mmmm... banana bread

thanks to me overbuying on bananas, i had only one option for the brown bananas sitting on my counter: attempt making some banana bread. i found a recipe that sounded really yummy (and easy) and voila! something way good that was made from scratch. this recipe actually calls for yogurt so it's extra moist... and my kitchen now smells amazing!

Visit www.banana-bread.biz/moist-banana-bread/ for the recipe

love to see the temple

 today me and scott made a goal to go to the temple for our ward's night. we were successful! i was so glad we were able to go together. it seems like with how busy our lives are, we weren't really able to go together at the same time. when we were walking out of the temple tonight, i felt like our bond as husband and wife was stronger. i'm so grateful for the man that scott is and for all that he puts up with from me :) he is my one true love and i'm so excited to spend the rest of my life and beyond with him.

i'm in middle school... again.

 today i started the bsn program at weber state. not that i'm not going to learn a lot, but i kind of want to just get this portion of schooling over with. it's comparable to middle school. middle school was awful. you were having trouble finding yourself and you were in an awkward middle stage. anyways that was my experience. i'm having those kinds of feelings as i finish my first day. there is no pay increase for having your bachelor's degree in nursing (not that i'm in it for money, but i would like to be compensated for this extra work) but every graduate school requires that you have it. hopefully none of my bsn profs read my blog :) i just feel like a pimply metal mouth all over again! but as soon as i don that lovely purple cap and gown again and they hand me my fancy diploma cover, i'm applying for the nurse anesthetist program at midwestern university in arizona. i may not get in the first time, but that's where my passion lies. the human body intrigues me and i want to learn all about it and the effects of anesthesia. but for now i'll just have to find some good acne cream and stick through these next 2 years!

lonely days and mudholes

hello everyone. so for the past week, dear husband scott has been out of town for work. i'm very grateful he has a good job, but sheesh this living alone thing really is hard! i posted something to that extent on facebook and one friend of mine said that this means if crap doesn't get done there's no one else to blame. my SIL told me that's what we need kids for. haha. kids?! i just want a puppy :)
so as a result, my house is spotless (so all family who has not yet seen my house should feel free to come now). i'm all caught up on laundry and dishes for once in my life. i've watched more lost and house than i ever have in my life. normally if this happened i would just pick up extra shifts at work to bide my time, but work is trying to cut down everyone's hours to save money. grrr. i'm just excited for scott to get home so we can get away to the fam cabin this weekend for some r&r.

on a different note, we have pulled out all the grass in our yard and graded the yummy dirt. the rosebushes and dwarf pines got pulled out so it looks like a wasteland. hopefully not for long. we just need to place new sprinkler pipe and hydroseed. i'm so excited to have green grass... here's some before and after pics:

before

after

puppy bostwick

meet the possible new member of our family:

i just have to convince scott that she's the second love of his life :)
as names go, i have four picked out: opal, winifred (winnie), penelope (penn), and ophelia. any input on these would be great.

the everchanging blog

i have finally made up my mind and hopefully will stop changing the layout of my blog daily. i'm now content and satisfied.

good mornin' to you

since i've taken a daytime position about a month ago, i've made the interesting transition from a to a night owl to a morning glory. i can't believe how much more productive my life is. take this morning for example: hubby got up at 5:50am. amazingly i was also awake and able to crawl out of bed. i sat with him while he ate breakfast and we had some quality conversation. after he left for work, i did two loads of laundry, washed a mondo pile of dishes that had been piling up for a week, folded clothes, deadheaded my plants, payed bills, read a chapter of my book, and tidied up the front room. note that this was all done before nine am. this may not seem like a big deal to some, but i remember working nights. i didn't accomplish one thing. my life was devoted to sleep. i am so grateful for this positive change. hopefully i can stick with the cleaning/organizing routine rather than cave in for a few more hours of sleep :)

to brighten up your morning, click on the link for a catchy morning song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU2zoQ8gV-s

everybody's fine eventually

to sum it up quickly... work yesterday was not a piece of cake. trying to fix several sick people at the same time requires more insight and strength than i have somedays. needless to say, i was not in the greatest mood after the work day finished. luckily i have an intuitive husband that knows how to fix everything with his caring way. we had a long discussion about how at work you give it your all, and when it's over, you must walk away knowing that you did your best. if the outcome is not the ideal situation, that is how it was meant to be. healthcare providers are humans too, imperfect people striving for perfect outcomes. this helped a little, but i was still feeling bad for not being able to do better. so after indulging me with some of my favorite food, scott popped in our newest netflix dvd to watch together. the movie is "everybody's fine". it's quite a thought-provoking film. the main character is robert de niro, a father who has recently lost his wife and is battling a life without her keeping his children, who are spread across the country, together. i won't tell much more about it in case any of you want to rent it (which i recommend), but there is a scene where robert de niro is hospitalized that is very heart-wrenching. as we were watching this, scott leaned over and whispered "that is why you need to be so caring to do what you do". i was very touched. lesson learned today: even though you may be troubled and imperfect, eventually everybody's fine.