Every 2 Minutes

"You know Rachel, if you ever want to get married, you need to start going to more activities." -Mom

I went to Family Home Evening on Monday. By myself. Even though it was a stake activity (more people I don't know) and it was speed dating. You should have heard the snickers throughout the chapel when it was announced. But I decided to go. To make my mom happy. :) So I went. By myself. I even put on make up, did not put my hair in a pony tail...but I did wear a hoodie. As I left the house, Heather pointed out that since I would be "dating" one guy every few minutes, than by the time the night was over, I would have gone on about 50 or so dates. Which sets me up for the next year. Or ten.

Here are some snippets of what I experienced:

-after signing in and sticking the name tag on my hoodie, I realized I had chocolate on my hoodie. So Mom you'll be pleased, I took it off for the night.
-the wife of the bishop of another ward talking about dating and "cracking down" on us for not dating. accusatory glances were sent to each sex.
-sitting next to Kenya, the one girl I know of who got a phone number.
-starting out every date with "so what do you do?" and sometimes getting a blank look.
-after the question above, most of the guys would answer about being between school and/or jobs. Then they'd ask me. I'd say "I'm a nurse." Or as Joanna said "BOOM! I'm a nurse!"
-"I do archery in my basement."-one date
-"...NCIS..." -another date when asked about TV shows he watached. I got very excited to meet a fellow fan. And then the following occurred:
-"So what year were you born?" -me
"1992." him
*me looking down trying not to laugh while thinking I have a nephew older than him.
-"I'm really thirsty from all this talking." - me to Jen sitting next to me. She agreed.
-"Wow your mouth is really dry." -my next date who overheard me say the above comment and decided to begin our two minute date with me feeling self conscious...
....and ending with me slightly irritated. He found out I love to run and as he moved over to the next seat repeated "running is so boring!'
-the closing prayer. The guy mentioned that he hoped people had sparked interest with one another and he began to laugh which set off everyone in the gym. What a way to end the night. :)

Personal Protective Equipment

This past week, I went to the official orientation at the hospital. You know, it's where they say what the hospital stands for, how to treat the "customers" (patients), and all the various procedures and equipment functioning (they have the best pumps!). Anyway, we touched on infection control because how can you not talk about that when working in a hospital? A slide came up for PPE- or personal protective equipment. Basically it is all the stuff you should wear depending on where you are working and what the patient has. If they are just sick, gloves do the job nicely. But if they have something else, like MRSA, then you have to do the whole shebang- gloves, gown, and mask. And those gowns are one size fits no one. But then I realized in what other situation I should use those gowns. At home. When I burp Lily.



Because no matter where I put that burp cloth, when she spits up, it gets me. I have washed all my hoodies at least five times. I often give up and just wear the hoodie until the end of the day, using Clorox wipes on my sleeves to get out the smell. It's a good thing no one but Lily sees me during the day. And these gowns would cover my legs too! Two days ago, I sat Lily up to burp her and she spit up. But it somehow arched and hit my square on my legs, completely missing her. It was pretty amazing. So either I get a gown or I start wearing this all day:

A Job

I got a job. A nursing job. :) I work in the ICU at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, UT. And so far, I love it. I have a couple years worth of stuff to learn, but everyone there has been nice and helpful. I realized with working at the hospital and watching Lily on my days off, I am working. Which reminded me of the construction sign below. Joanna and I would often say it would be great to write the word "it" below the lettering. Kind of like that one construction guy over the summer huh Joanna?

October 30th

In Utah, when Halloween falls on a Sunday, it is general knowledge that everyone will go trick or treating on Saturday, October 30th. At first I just thought it was a neighborhood thing or a ward idea. But when I was watching the local weather, they mentioned the weather on Saturday and how it would be nice for the kids trick or treating. As a kid, when Halloween fell on Sunday (and this was before ward trunk or treats), you just had to skip that year. I think I was seven. It was a good thing we lived up a long private drive where the only people who ever stopped by were the Danners (and that is because we went with them to go get candy) or else I would have been pelting the kids stopping by with Snickers bars. Anyway, last Saturday, Lily wore her first Halloween outfit. Not really a costume but when you are four months old, it's okay.

Today Show

Monday thru Friday, my routine has evolved to this:

5 am: Awaken to a blinking light.
5:15 am: Lace up my worn running shoes and head out into the early morning darkness. Normally it's fine (except for that one fall) but this week I had to run without the moon. It was very disconcerting. The streetlights don't reach all the way into the bushes that line the road. On Tuesday I ran almost all the way up the bench in Springville. On the way back down, I panicked, thinking a cougar was stalking me for an early breakfast. I've never slow run so fast in my life while simultaenously praying. Later I asked Nathan if there were cougars up there. He said the only animals I would probably run into would be deer (which I have done) and that they would run from me (which they do).
6:45 am: Return from running.
7:30 am: Get ready to take care of Lily. Turn on the Today Show.*
And the rest of the day: Every three hours I feed Lily. An hour after she eats, I try to get her to sleep (yay nap time!). Dogs bark and wake up both of us. Squirt them with water. Drink copious amounts of Diet Dr. Pepper. Walk up the stairs to my bathroom around 10 times a day. Eat pistachios. Read. Watch Clean House. Watch NCIS. Get rejection emails (sniff sniff). Change the baby at least a million times.

On Saturdays, I sleep in. Until 8 am. Which is very nice. Today I also got a two hour nap in. I felt very rested when I woke up. Sundays I go to church of course. My new ward is...new. But hey, the church is true wherever you go.

*The Today Show: Okay I watch Ann, Matt, Meredith, Natalie, and Al every morning. Sometimes Lester and the other news person (I can't remember her name!) make an appearnace. Anyway, on Halloween, they dress up in very put together costumes. Well Natalie came as Justin Bieber. She actually pulled it off quite well. But then that night I totally had a dream that Justin Bieber dumped me. And I was heartbroken. The next morning when I was running, I realized that no, I do not have Bieber Fever (as Cameron once said to me). I have just watched too much Today. Eh. And that's alright with me.

Skinned Knees

I moved to Utah to take care of my niece Lily Jean while still looking for nursing jobs. Sniff sniff. I would have never guessed it would have taken this long. Or might take even longer. I think it's worse than not getting into nursing school. Sigh. And though I wish I was working as a nurse, being a nanny for Lily is great. Tiring, but great.



So I start watching her every morning at 7:30 and since I didn't want to wait around all day to go running at night, I figured I would run before. Good idea right? Well last Friday it finally happened. I have my route planned out and I do it every day, but it's dark out and the street lights are sporadic and the sidewalks very uneven. I was loping along when I tripped over Mount Everest about half a mile into my run. It is liked the fall happened in slow motion. First my left knee, then my right, followed by my palms. And then my mouth. I am pretty sure my heart stopped when I realized my two front teeth had hit pavement. Gulp. Ignoring the pain in my hands and knees, I quickly ran my tongue over my teeth. Ahhh! Intact!! :) I was soooo relieved. How annoying would it be to knock out my front teeth again?!?!

I rescued my cell phone (which now has a bevy of scratches), got back up, adjusted my music and ran the rest of the seven miles. Every mile or so I would double check that my teeth were still there. They were. Phew. Well almost phew. When I got home and ate breakfast, something felt off. I inspected my front teeth in the mirror and noticed a tiny chip out of one of my teeth. Gulp. But Nathan says it is hardly noticeable so I count myself lucky. Now a week later, my knee still hurts, but the bruises are fading. I haven't tripped again...yet. There were a couple close calls, especially the morning it snowed.

Other than running, changning diapers and preparying bottles, I keep applying for jobs. I had one interview but because of my lack of experience, I did not get the job. Which is how it seems to be. At this point, I think I would work for free to get experience. The whole thing is very frustrating but as my mother and father and everyone in my family reminds me, I will get a job someday and not to give up. I hope they are right...

A new running ditty

Also for the girls (Ella, Natalie, Reese) to dance too. And Cameron. :)