Nauvoo

I have a million pictures of all the little stores and homes in Nauvoo. This may be way boring to everyone but I wanted to post a few. Nauvoo is so sweet and small and quaint. We loved walking up and down the streets and going into all the little homes.
The plaque below the sculpture reads, "On the morning of June 24, 1844, Joseph Smitha nd his brother Hyrum left their familes, homes, and fellow Saints for the last time. Traveling on horseback, they paused on this bluff. Joseph looked admiringly at the unfinished temple and the city of Nauvoo and declared:

"This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them."

Joseph and Hyrum then continued on to Carthage, Illinios, where they faced legal charges and eventual death at the hands of a mob.
Red Brick Store
the Nauvoo House this is the trail of hope that runs down Parley Street in Nauvoo. It is where the saints began the mass exodus out of Nauvoo in the middle of winter.


at the end of Parley Street is the Mississippi River, where the saints crossed over it while it was frozen.

The Nauvoo temple was gorgeous. It is 99% the same as it was when the Saints originally built it. Isn't it amazing they were able to build something so magnificent? and from a group of people who were mostly broke.

the windy city

deep dish pizza was the first thing we did when i got to town. it was to die for. best pizza i think i have ever had and oh so cheesy...we walked down michigan avenue where there are tons of little shops, restaurants, and museums. the streets were really clean and there were tons of quiet little park areas where you can get a moment away from the hustle and bustle of the city. there were also tons of outdoor scultures (outside the art institute) and this was one of our favorites. basically just a giant reflective globe but it was so interesting...we could have entertained ourselves all day. it might not look that cool but it really was. promise.

these are the shoes that have put me through some tendonitis misery the past week.

can you find us?
navy pier.

...more pics of nauvoo to come.

Chicago!

so parker has been working in chicago for the past couple of weeks and I am flying out there on Sunday to see him and bring him home!

Has anyone ever been to chicago or have suggestions of things that are a must see/do/eat? any suggestions would be great.

We are driving home through Nauvoo, Il. I haven't been there since i was like 10 years old and I am super excited to go back!

mothers day dinner

this is a really delicious pasta sauce recipe i got from my friend jen. It's delicious. I made it for my family for mothers day yesterday. It's really not hard, just make it on a non-calorie-counting day. It's not an exact recipe but I think it's pretty self explanatory.
cut up about three bell peppers. you can use red, yellow, and orange. You can just use 1 or 2 colors if thats all you have. Also about half an onion. melt some butter...


saute everything in that butter.

add one large jar pasta sauce, any kind you want. Then add whipping cream until it looks about how you want it... I told you, we aren't counting calories. I usually add one little carton per jar of red sauce.add oregano, basil, and garlic powder to taste.

and lots of parmesean cheese...no picture of the finished project but let me tell you, it was good. Grandma's request for mothers day was for dad to read Mark Twain. She gets a kick out of the different characters voices. Apparently this is a nightly routine with the grandparents.
*
it was great to spend the weekend in st. george with my family. I have the best mom in the whole world. She is so amazing and always drops her entire life to serve anyone. She is the most selfless person I know. love you mom!

watch

this.

and happy cinco de mayo!

white dunes

these pics are a few weeks old but i wanted to post them anyway. I love these white rock structures up in snow canyon. i think amy or i had a birthday party up here once...i know, what kind of little kid has a birthday party out in the desert in the rocks and dirt? and what kind of parents throw it? that would by my parents... there's a hill to the right of all this that is a steep slope of sand and it's actally still really fun to jump down...you take huge leaps downhill and land in sink into the sand anf when you land it's seriously so soft. when we were little, my dad would grab us by our ankles and pull us down on our butts...we didn't care about all the sand up the pants, it was just too much fun to notice the sand.

this girl is in D.C. right now and I am missing her! check out all the fun things she is doing on her blog.

happy birthday to me and the house we almost bought

yes i had a beautiful birthday... parker and i had a sonic burger picnic at liberty park and played a little frisbee. the sun was shining and it was warm and beautiful. parker took a half day off of work to play with me...he is so great.

and of course sushi for dinner. parker called a few of my close friends to come eat with us. we had just a great old time.bff's
the guests with mouthfuls of sushi...

i would rather have a plate of sushi over birthday cake any day.

on a side note. the first time home buyer tax credit is over... we were seriously thinking about purchasing a home to get the $8,000 but at the last moment felt uneasy about it and decided to wait until we didn't feel like we were rushing into something. it may be a while before we get anything but i have found myself noticing houses for sale more and more and wanting one. i can't tell if i really want a home or if i am just getting anxious and feeling stagnant...feeling like we need a change of some kind. either way, i don't think those are good reasons to get a home, right? I also think we have issues with committment... we always try to avoid things that are going to "tie us down" and I think a home was a little too much for us at this point in our lives when we don't know what the future holds. Parker's business is going great but who knows if it could take a turn or if he would decide he wanted to do something different. so for now i'm just saving pictures of my dream home on a little file in my computer... and we are feeling good about our decision not to get the house we were looking at.

she's home!

best quotes from the night

"kenny...you look like an actor"

"I already have a date you guys!"

" I want to marry a filipino man!"

job update...

i got one! I found out a couple weeks ago that I will be working full time at Timpanogas Regional Hospital on the pediatric/medical/surgical floors. I have spent the last couple days doing orientation there and one cool thing is that there are at least 5 of us new BYU grads that were hired so I already know some girls on the floors I am working on which is sweet.

I never did any clinicals at this hospital, let alone any Mountainstar Hospitals but I am really excited to work there. It is a smaller hospital too which I actually think I will like a lot and I have been really impressed with everything and everyone so far. It will just be a TON to learn! but I pretty much expect that with anywhere I work. so here's to feeling like I don't know anything for the next 6-8 weeks:)...actually i will probably feel like that for the next 6 months.

I start training on the floors next week which I am both nervous and excited about. I am excited to get at least a little exposeure to pediatrics and then I hope that med/surg will give me a good knowledge base to start out my nursing career with. I am still working at my nursing home this month part time so that will be add up to be a lot of work this month! honestly though, it's so nice to be done with school, come home from work, be done with work, and just play.

right now I'm just so grateful that the job hunt is over and I have been hired at a really nice place to work. I am so grateful for my nursing license and my degree! Sometimes I think about it and can't believe that school is actually over (for now)! I just hope I can make the most of the time I have working and all the alone time I get with Parker!

sad news...

i got a call from Parker yesterday while he was at work.

hey says, "I have some really really sad news"

long silence.

"what happened?" i ask

I brace myself for whatever is coming, expecting the worse.

"the Jazz traded Brewer yesterday"

of course my heart was already racing, waiting to hear some tragic news. I was relieved it was just basketball, but the adrenaline makes it hard to not yell at the other person on the line for scaring you half to death... I swear this has happened to me a few times lately. Don't people know you don't tell someone you have bad/sad/horrible news unless it is REALLY horrible? I always expect the worst... and I can actually feel the physical stress on my body start when someone says that and I start bracing myself. Don't you agree that that phrase should be saved for times when you REALLY have bad/sad/horrible news that have to do with life changing events? or is it just me?

and I AM really sad that the Jazz traded Brewer... He will be sorely missed.

love love

happy late v day to everyone.

this valentines i was so thankful to be married to my best friend.

still can't beleive i get to spend forever with this guy

i am one lucky girl.

crazy for eli

there was so much baby craziness this weekend. I have to post some pictures... plus i know those who weren't there want to see pics! Jen and jon were very generous with their time as we literally wouldn't let elijah go home until very late at night. Here are some pics... The last video is my favorite.

the results are in...

I am now officially a Registered Nurse in the state of Utah and up for grabs! I'm glad I didn't pay the 8 bucks to the see the "early" unofficial results! These posted today (wednesday) and I took the test monday morning.

Here I am going into the testing center in Las Vegas... parker caught me off guard in this picture but don't I look physically ill? I was. I had nightmares the entire night before about all the things that could possibly go wrong on the way to the testing center and not getting there and missing the test. On top of that, I always make myself physically sick before doing anything that makes me nervous. Well fortunately, we made it to the testing center with about an hour to spare. They let me start my test 30 minutes early. The whole thing took about an hour and a half and i got the minimum 75 questions. It was all kind of surreal, you know, ACTUALLY taking the NCLEX. honestly, it started out pretty easy and got really hard. I got about 3 or 4 drugs I had no idea what they were. Because it is a computer adaptive test, it gets harder the more you get right, so I was told to be happy when I got a drug I didn't know because that meant I was doing well. trust me though, I was not happy. I was just praying that the computer turned off after 75 questions. I don't think I could have done anymore questions! Luckily it did. This is after the test. Seriously I was just so so deliriously happy to be done with the test, that it had turned off after 75 questions, and that I never have to do another practice question again! we celebrated in Mesquite at the virgin river hotel and casino buffet! It was a great ending to a long awaited, hard worked-for day.

I love seeing Registered Nurse next to my name!

Next hurdle... Find a job!