Homecoming Part 2

Here is a sneak peak of Homecoming Day. Their date included eating at In-N-Out, ice-skating and treats at Bahama Bucks. She is so beautiful and they looked amazing together. More pictures to come...

Nursing Student 101

I thought it would be fun to post something about Jacque's experiences at ASU's Nursing School. We have learned a few things along the way. Grading is different in some classes. 90% is NOT an "A". It's a "B". And below 77%....well, good-bye! Her hardest class is Pharmacology as she tries to learn all about medicine, dosages and side effects.

She has the most fun with her group - known as D5. They have classes and clinicals together and she says they are the best!
Right now, she is working with a Pre-school and at an "Elders" home. AND learning very interesting procedures!

SUTURES!

How to change a bed...with the person still in bed...

So far, it is everything Jacque imagined. Sure it's hard and she is studying quite a bit. But she loves it and we know she will make a great nurse!

Beware...she may need a guinea pig to poke or work on pretty soon!!

Random-isms

Thought I would post some random things going on in my life:

Did you know that when we have irrigation, it's like the duck population congregates for their bi-weekly meetings. This past week was no exception. This time is was down-right scary. Usually we can count about 40 and this time....it was a population explosion. Brad asked me to close the park's irrigation valve and I said... "rriiiiight. The ducks are going to attack me". I sent Jacque later!

I am having so much fun in school this semester.......kind-of.....well, it's not what I thought it would be. First of all, my history class is a compact class....meaning...that instead of 16 weeks, it's only 9 weeks. What does that mean? It means having a summer class in the fall....reading every night and exams every week. It means lots of extra work in a small amount of time. I actually love this class. I've forgotten alot about how our country evolved and the inspiration that our founding fathers had in developing our liberties and democracy. Something I didn't know? Why isn't the mail delivered on the Sabbath? I'm sure you have asked yourselves that many times! I will tell you, since I just read about it and wrote a mini-essay on it. During the Industrial Revolution, the rising middle class had more morals and wanted a religious foundation as part of their lifestyle. The upper and lower class had their own issues and religion was not a priority. This temperance movement entailed many preachers and religions trying to convert others to a more religious society. They decided that the observance of the Sabbath was critical. A few ministers, thru rallies and boycotts eventually demanded that the Union stop transporting mail on Sundays. Other companies did not agree, but this Sabbath day observance has lasted thru the years......interesting!

My other class is college algebra. It's a hybrid class meaning you only go once a week and do the rest online with your "group" and by yourself. I didn't know this class was a hybrid, and have struggled with this set-up. For our finance section, we had to pick 10 stocks, invest $2500 and watch them grow....or deplete...for the next month. The pressure is that whoever loses the most also loses 25 points off his/her grade. I'm stressing on this one. Stupid stock market keeps going down. I know this will apply to everyone, but I have worked too hard to get every point I can and to lose 25 because I don't know the ins and outs of the market is out of my control. Good thing I don't do this with real money for a living!!

Homecoming Part 1

Another LAST milestone for our last daughter, our last HS dilemma of waiting and waiting and waiting until someone asks....you know, to get asked to go to the dance?? One of Aly's responsibilities for Student Council is to plan the Homecoming dance...so she was kind-of hoping that she would be asked. And Wa-la!!

She almost caught him as she ran out the door, but he got away.....
It's a pirate theme...

It said:

We hear about booty hunters all the time
Swabbis lookin for more that they will ere find
Ther be dubloon an' silver, precious gems an' jewels
Them who be searchin
end up bein fools
So guess that be what I be;
as I be lookin' for ye
I need a date fer homecomin'
an' I be leavin' ye a clue.
Thar be signs an' symbols
all around us, aye.
Jus' look t' th' stars
t' help ye find yer way!

The funny part?? It didn't have his name. It said to look in the stars...so she went outside and looked at the stars....nothing. I was cracking up. He had told me that it would really "get" her if he made her wait....and he was right!! I like this guy!! The next day, he came while she was at school and put stars on her ceiling in his initials....

So, we answered:

Aye, th’ stars were aligned
all proper they say
found ye, my matey
in the broadlight of day!
Now I’ve found the booty
and since I’m so nice
thought I would share with ye
ye might look twice!

Look for more pictures this coming week...her dress is gorgeous!!

To My Mom..

My mom's birthday was last week. No, I didn't forget. How could I forget my mom?? We are always on Mt. Graham around the Labor Day weekend (pictures and post to follow), so I rarely get to spend Mom's birthday-day with her. This year was no different. But she never complains or never makes me feel bad. That isn't my mom. Today, we celebrated her birthday as a family. Let me share some things about my mom that just make me smile:

She loves me the most! I just know it. She always calls to ask how I am doing, what I am doing and at least once a week, she treats me to lunch. I know I have other sisters...but I am SURE she loves me the most!

My mom is always laughing, always smiling and rarely, RARELY takes a serious picture. This is on Mother's Day.

"Mom....can we just get a picture. I'm going to blog this, you know".

Her grandkids love the fact that she is funny, silly and quite like them when getting a picture taken. I'm not going to post some of the pictures that actually might just embarrass my lovable mom!

My mom has always been my best friend. When I was growing up, I didn't really ever have a "best" friend. I had my mom. She always told me how beautiful I was/am. She always gave me encouragement as I pursued my music. She took me out to lunch and to the mall when I was having bad day. She stayed up late with me when I needed to talk to someone and she cried with me when I needed a good cry. (high school can do that to you!)

Today isn't much different. She still tells me how beautiful I am. Even when I had different hair-styles or no hair, she told me that I was beautiful. She still gives me encouragement when I am pursuing new interests and tells me I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. She loves to spend time with me, especially at our favorite lunch spot, Subway. It really is quite fun to beat her to the cash register and pay for HER lunch. Boy, want to see her a little miffed?? Try paying for lunch once in a while!! And when I need a shoulder to cry or complain on (and Brad is at work, of course!) she is there, always, whenever I need a friend to share my life with...she is there.

Today, we celebrated Mom's/Grammy's birthday - Rogers' style. Her favorite dinner (enchiladas) with as many as possible grandkids around her. We all adore our Grammy. She is always the one who comes to concerts, luncheons at the school, the hospital when we are sick, games and anything else all these kids are involved in....and we are missing the Roberts, the Goodmans and Aaron and Savannah....they all love her!!

Here she is, opening our "present" to her. It's a collection of all the years we have had a family fashion show. Wow....some of these grandkids have changed quite a bit since 2002!!

And these sweet Olivers made the cutest card for their grammy!

Mom - Someday, I want to be just like you!! I love you!!

You just NEVER know...

We have been admonished over and over to have an ample supply of food and water in case of an emergency. We always wonder when that emergency will happen. Will Brad lose his job? Will the stores close their businesses? Will your water supply dry up? Especially in Arizona??

OR

just maybe during the night, let's say around 12:00 midnight when you are filling up the jacuzzi with warm water in hopes of relaxing and getting to sleep, (after all, you have just finished your history assignment at 11:46, due AT midnight!!) and your water starts sputtering and yellow water comes out of the sprocket. Needless to say, I quickly got out. I let Brad know and he said we would look at it in the morning. 4:00 a.m. comes along and Brad realizes we have a huge problem. We have no water in our house, and Jacque needs to wash her hair at 6:00 a.m.

THAT is where I'm so thankful I have been partially obedient to the counsel of our Prophet and leaders. I go to the garage and bring out one 5-gal container of water and wa-la we have water to wash hair, brush teeth and do the BASICS!

However -

the problem is not fixed and I have decided that having a husband that knows about building houses and all the ins and outs of plumbing is a blessing, a real blessing. He has been working all morning to fix the problem and we still have this:

Really, showers are over-rated!! But listening and obeying are NOT!!