You Only Live Once...

Movie Suggestion

2012-02-11T16:06:00.000-06:00

So, last night via Netflix, John and I watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I really thought I wouldn't like this movie at all. It just didn't seem like my type of movie. But I have to say, I thought it was really good and I would recommend it for anyone. So, if you have time, check out this movie!

Shopping!

2012-02-11T15:57:00.000-06:00

Today John and I decided to spend a little time (and money) shopping. I drug him to Old Navy to look at maternity clothes, and I ended up buying a few things. I got a couple tank tops (for this summer of course), a dressy shirt, and a couple pairs of pants. It was pretty fun trying on maternity clothes, although I am sure John would disagree.

We also went shopping for shoes. John was actually looking for a new pair of dress shoes but since he is a size 15, he has a tough time finding shoes. I actually decided I needed a new pair of nursing shoes. I bought my very first pair of Asics, and they should come in the mail in the next 5-7 business days! I am pretty excited about wearing them.

Other than shopping, we really don't have too big of plans for this weekend. John is actually doing some work this weekend because he has a big work proposal he is working on, so I am left with some house cleaning and some good old fashioned bumming around. It is nice and cold out this weekend, so curling up with some hot cocoa and a book sounds delicious!

Happy Weekend!

18 weeks!

2012-02-06T14:53:00.000-06:00

I am 18 weeks pregnant and just had my third OB appointment today. The news is all good! Baby Nelson seems to be a healthy and happy baby right now. I haven't really posted a pic of my new rounder belly, so here is one I snapped with my phone. It's kinda blurry, so bear with me.

As you can see, I am getting bigger! Besides a backache the last couple days, I am feeling great. I think the only reason my back hurts, is because I was stuck at work for 20 hours on Saturday. Ouch. But the time and a half helped deal with the fact it was a long shift. On the weekends we have to work, we are on call all day for both days, so any surgeries that happen we have to stay and recover those patients. That's why Saturday and Sunday can turn into LONG days.

John and I are going to tour a daycare later today to try and take care of that before Baby Nelson comes. I also have been trying to refrain myself from buying every baby thing I see. I actually only have a couple of baby items as of right now.

The Vikings and Auntie clothing are from my sister, and I bought the baby book and the Twins pacifiers. I can't wait to register for gifts, I want everything!!

In other news, the Giants won the Super Bowl last night. I was pretty happy with their win. I only saw the second half because of work, but it was a pretty good game all around. John and I just watched it at home since I was on call for work. John made Chili and it was awesome.

Not much else is new in the Nelson Home. Enjoying the day off today and then back to work tomorrow!

Beautiful Morning

2012-02-06T14:40:00.000-06:00

I'm not the biggest fan of winter, but I do like the mornings where you wake up and everything is covered in frost. I just think it's really pretty, so I snapped a couple pictures this morning!

Happy Monday!!!

Updates

2012-01-29T11:27:00.000-06:00

Somehow I allowed time to get away from me again. However, not a whole lot is new in the Nelson Home.

The new job is going well. I have only worked 3 weeks at it, so I am still figuring out some things and getting used to the new hours. It is nice having a more regular schedule though. My new co-workers are very nice and I am learning a lot on the the job. So, all in all it is going well.

Last weekend my parents came to visit. We spent time shopping and just hanging out. My parents bought an IPad while they were in town, and they became pretty addicted to it over the weekend. We also ate at Carnaval Saturday evening, which is a Brazilian Restaurant. They bring meat selections right to your table, and if your ready for more you turn your token to green, and if you need to rest for a while you put your token to red. They also had this awesome pineapple that they bake and then put cinnamon and sugar on. It was a fun experience and they food was really good!

I am now 17 weeks pregnant! I am finally just starting to show, but still able to wear my regular clothes thus far. I am feeling great, no dizziness or anything crazy with my pseudo-tumor. At the end of February I have my ultrasound and can find out what we are having, so that is really exciting! I can't wait to start buying things once we know the sex of the baby. I am almost halfway there!!

Not a whole lot else is new, just looking forward to spring and warmer weather!

New Year, New Job!

2012-01-10T19:25:00.000-06:00

Happy 2012 Everyone! I know I am about 10 days late on this, but I just don't know where the time has been going lately. So far it has been a good year!

First of all, I am 15 weeks pregnant right now, and it is going really well! All the medical stuff that was going on with me earlier (the pseudo tumor) has finally settled down and I have been feeling great! Last week I had an ultrasound done just to make sure everything looked good, and it was amazing to see my baby in such amazing detail. I could even see his/her fingers!!! It definitely made things more real for me.

The other big news right now is that I started my new job. I am now working in the Recovery Room, which is where patients go as soon as they wake up after surgery. We get all kinds of surgeries and all ages of patients, so it's nice to have a variety and a challenge. My schedule is completely different than it used to be. I used to work 3 days a week, 12 hour shifts, and now I am working 8 hours shifts 5 days a week, so it is really different for me, but I am liking it.

Right now I am orientating on the unit, so I am in the process of learning how everything works in the recovery room. It's still early, but I can tell I am going to like it. I am surprised at how much I already miss Orthopedics, but I think some of it was that I was so comfortable on Ortho.

Those are the major things that are new in the last couple weeks. John and I are very excited about Baby Nelson's arrival in July, and we are preparing by starting to shop around for baby items at all the different stores in town. I am still fitting into all of my clothes as of right now, but I am sure maternity clothes are right around the corner!

Thanks for reading!

Nelson Family Christmas

2011-12-30T11:31:00.000-06:00

So, I was originally supposed to work today (after a two week long vacation) but instead I was mandated, and I probably won't have to work at all today, so I decided to catch up on my blogging from this weekend.

On Monday, December 26th John and I headed from Minnesota to Brookings to celebrate Christmas with John's extended family. We had soup and munchies for lunch, and then we opened presents.

Tuesday we took the day off from Christmas and cleaned the house and caught up on laundry. It was nice to have a day to ourselves.

Wednesday we went out to Jim and Barb's for Christmas. We had lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and cheesecake. It was delicious. Then of course it was time for presents again. We announced our pregnancy the same way to John's family, and they were all very excited as well.

It was an awesome Holiday Season, and we still have New Years to celebrate! I'm ready to grab my sparkling grape juice and welcome in 2012!

Christmas in Minnesota

2011-12-30T10:36:00.000-06:00

John and I headed to Minnesota to celebrate Christmas on December 23rd. The 23rd was actually my mom's 50th Birthday so we celebrated with family and friends at the Frontier Bar. It was a pretty good turn out and it was nice to catch up with everyone I hadn't seen in a long time.

On Christmas Eve, John, Dad, and I made cashew cookies because I wanted to bring some to the Nelson Family Christmas. Then we opened presents with my parents, brother, and sister. We had my parents open a Grandparents book, which was our announcement to our family that we are expecting a baby in July. It was nice to finally share the news with the family. I have known since about week 3, and now I am 13 weeks pregnant. That is a long time to keep a secret!

After opening presents, we headed to Janel and Tim's to eat and hang out. At around 6pm we headed to Fairfax to watch the Christmas Program. Afterwards it was back to Tim and Janel's for more eating and mingling.

Christmas Day we went to church in the morning, and visited with people we hadn't seen in awhile. After church we headed to Mark and Kathy's to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side. It was nice to see everyone and hang out for a while. And my mom was busy blabbing to everyone that she was going to be a grandma, she was really excited.

We had a really good Christmas in Minnesota, it just went by way too quickly. We were so busy going from one place to another, that the weekend flew by. But it was a good holiday get-together, and now everyone knows that we are expecting a little one in July.

Happy Holidays!!

Christmas!

2011-12-21T13:40:00.000-06:00

John and I opened presents last night because we will be in Minnesota for Christmas. I think we did a pretty good job.

John got me a Kitchen Aid standing mixer, which I absolutely love. I just had a cheaper hand held mixer, so it's a treat to finally have a nice mixer to cook and bake with. He also got me pajama pants, a book light, and a couple books by my favorite authors.

I got John a Shop Vac (hey, he wanted it), a coffee thermos, starbucks gift card, sweatshirt, travel coffee mug, a movie, LED flashlight, and a remote control helicopter (he wanted that too).

We both had a fun night opening gifts and can't believe Christmas is almost here! Merry Christmas too you all!

Catching up

2011-12-21T13:16:00.001-06:00

Holy Moly, it has been 2 months since I last blogged. I don't know how the time has gotten away from me. However, in my defense I have been busy and have had some medical stuff going on. I will get into that later. I will touch on the highlights from the last couple months.

Halloween- Well I had to work Halloween Night, so I handed out candy to the little kids until about 6:15pm and then headed to work. We had around 30 kids come to our house, not too many, but enough.

Thanksgiving- Again I had to work. I actually worked Thursday-Sunday of that weekend, so needless to say I didn't celebrate the holiday in any fun way.

At the end of November, I had a routine eye appointment with my Optometrist. Well, it turned out that my optic nerve was swollen, meaning there was a bunch of pressure in my head putting pressure on my optic nerve. The Optometrist referred me to a neurologist, who examined me and then had me have an MRI of my brain to see what was going on.

I did not expect any of this after a routine eye exam. Let me tell you, having an MRI is not really a fun procedure. It's loud, crowded, and a little scary. I am glad I am not claustrophobic because I don't know if I would have been able to do it. But anyway, the MRI came back completely normal, no brain tumors or any other scary things, which was both good news and bad news. It meant that my brain looked good, but meant they would still need to do more tests.

I was also referred to a Ophthalmologist who took pictures of the back of eye to look at my optic nerve and to measure the pressure in my eyes. He basically told me the same thing as my Optometrist, which was that I had severe papillary edema.

My Neurologist was guessing that it was a "pseudo tumor " which means that my brain acts like a tumor is there, when really there is nothing abnormal. They don't really know why it happens. Anyway, the neurologist had to perform a spinal tap to diagnose and relieve the pressure. When she tapped me (which wasn't very fun) my pressure was 51, and normal is around 8. So there was a ton of extra pressure on my optic nerve, which if it gets bad enough can cause permanent eye damage. Yeah, pretty scary stuff.

During the spinal tap, she removed about 4 tubes of cerebrospinal fluid, which is a very high volume. This would relieve the pressure for about a day or two since the body just makes more cerebrospinal fluid. In order to treat the pseudo tumor, they put me on a diuretic to help slow the making of cerebrospinal fluid.

So there it is, my life for the last couple months. Like I said, it's been pretty crazy. Along with the diuretic, they are monitoring me pretty closely with every 2 weeks appointments with the Ophthalmologist. I never imagined having such a unique medical situation. However, I am finally feeling good, and at my last eye appointment they said the swelling was mildly better, so it's on it's way.

In other news, I accepted a new nursing position at Avera. I am going to work in the Recovery Room, which is where patients go immediately following surgery. It will be patients of all ages and of all surgeries. It will be 8 hour shifts which will be a nice change. One weekend every 6 weeks and one holiday per year. There won't be any night shifts, except for being on call, and every time I come in on-call it's time and a half. I am really looking forward to this new opportunity, but I will miss all my Ortho co-workers!

Sorry for the wordy post, but I had a lot to catch up on. I can't say my life is not interesting. Thanks for reading!

Halloween

2011-10-23T16:26:00.000-05:00

I like the Halloween Holiday. I like decorating, and someday it's going to be fun to dress my kids up in cute Halloween costumes. I also traditionally watch the movie Hocus Pocus every Halloween. This movie is corny, and was made back in 1994, but it's just a tradition that I have, and that I will share with my kids someday.

I also am looking forward to handing out candy this year for trick or treaters. Last year we lived in a locked apartment complex, so we didn't really have a chance to hand out candy. This year we are looking forward to it. I have to work a night shift, so I can't help out with it too much, but hopefully there will be some kids to the house before I have to leave.

In the spirit of Halloween we did put up a little bit of decoration to hopefully welcome some trick-or-treaters.

Favorite New Fall Show

2011-10-18T09:45:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy when new fall TV shows start. There always seems to be one that grabs my attention. This fall, my favorite new show is Revenge on ABC. This show is basically a guilty pleasure. It is about a girl who moves to the Hamptons and her whole purpose is to get revenge on the people who wrongly put her dad in prison.

I don't know why I like it so much, I think it's the wonderful dresses/outfits that the characters get to wear as well as a storyline that keep my interested. I have always like Emily Van Camp as an actress as well. So if you are looking for a guilty pleasure show, try this one. It on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm central time.

Harvest Time!

2011-10-13T11:50:00.000-05:00

For the last couple years, John and I have gone to Minnesota to help with the fall harvest. And by that, I mean we chisel plow or chop stalks for a few hours. I thoroughly enjoy driving tractor, so I really don't look at it as work. I enjoy the feeling of helping with harvest, and I get to it while listening to the radio and enjoying the fall season!

This year was especially fun because my dad bought a new tractor that has GPS in it. It is amazing! I chisel plowed with this tractor and the only time I actually had to drive was on the turns. As long as you are going in a straight path, the GPS will literally allow the tractor to drive itself. It is amazing how far technology has come in the last few years. Here are some pics of the inside of the tractor and the GPS.

Like I said, it's pretty fancy. I spent pretty much all day Saturday chisel plowing and I plowed an entire field, I think Dad said it was about 80 acres. Anyway, call me crazy but I enjoyed it. This was my view for most of Saturday.

While I was chisel plowing, John was chopping stalks all day. So, on Sunday we switched, I chopped and John chisel plowed. We got a lot of tillage done for my Dad and brother, and I think they appreciated it. We only had a couple break downs over the weekend, and I mainly just watched while the repairs were made. What can I say, I am a city girl now! John and I had a great weekend on the farm!

On a side note, my family is now completely done with harvest, and we also enjoyed some of my mom's cooking while at home. And here is the new tractor from the outside. John Deere!

Fall!

2011-10-01T09:43:00.000-05:00

I love the fall season. The crisp morning air, the changing colors, and of course the harvest season. The trees in our backyard are changing colors, and it is really beautiful!

Happy Fall :)

An end to a long season...

2011-09-28T16:32:00.000-05:00

Today is the last game for the Minnesota Twins this season. Needless to say, it was a disappointing year for the Twins. As of now their record is 62-99. Ouch. This is the worst season they have had for probably 10 years. They won the Central Division last season, and this season they finish 37 games below .500. That is quite a change. While injuries caused a lot of problems this season, the Twins just seemed to never find their groove.

My husband and I do not have cable (you wouldn't believe how many crazy looks we get for that one) so I have honestly only watched a couple Twins games this year. I did attend one game at Target Field as well. I guess I am glad I didn't waste much time this year watching them play. I am still a Twins fan, but it is hard watching a team struggle so bad.

Anyway, their last game is tonight. I hope they can win their last game of the year and end the season on a positive note to build on next season. So, for one more time this year, Let's Go Twins!

Salsa!

2011-09-27T21:13:00.000-05:00

Well, John and I successfully canned salsa for the first time. We went out to John's parents' farm and his mom guided us through our first canning experience. It really went quite well. John and I have been picking our tomatoes for the last few weeks and freezing them until we had time to can.

It only took a couple hours to do the whole process. We ended up with 14 jars of salsa, and I anticipate we will make another batch sometime this late fall/early winter. I had a great time canning, and this salsa is going to take great in the middle of winter. We have already discussed possibly making applesauce or lefsa soon. My mom would be so proud!

Sidewalk Arts Festival

2011-09-16T15:12:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, John and I attended the Sidewalk Arts Festival, held in downtown Sioux Falls. It was a gorgeous day, and we didn't have much for plans, so we decided to check it out. This is only a one day event, so there were a ton of people out and about checking out the booths.

There were about 225 booths in total stretched out over 3 blocks. There were also food vendors and some street entertainment going on. It was fun to walk around and see some interesting things. There was a lot of pottery, furniture, and pictures. John and I had fun looking (well, I had fun looking anyway) but nothing really caught our eye. We spent a good hour looking around and just ended up getting some Soup Mixes from "The Soup Lady from Nebraska". Apparently they are a big deal. We ate the chicken wild rice one last night, and it was rather delicious!

I guess that they have this event every year in downtown Sioux Falls, so I imagine we will check it out again in the future. It was fun and interesting, but the items are pretty expensive. However, I like to window shop, and I had a good time.

Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2011-09-12T19:50:00.001-05:00

I finally got around to reading The Help this last week. I had heard about it, and I have been wanting to ready it for probably about a month now, but just never got around to it. I was in Target the other day, and finally bought it.

I really enjoyed this book. It is definitely similar to the Harper Lee book To Kill A Mocking Bird, in that it takes place in the South and addresses racial issues that are happening at that time. This is Stockett's first novel but you wouldn't know it by reading the book. It took me about four days to finish the book, and that's mainly because we were busy this past weekend.

I'm not really sure what I liked best about the book. I enjoyed learning more about what the relationship was like between white women and their black maids back in the 1960s. I could feel myself cheering for these women to come out on top and make a difference. Their courage was amazing to me, especially Miss Skeeter because she had the most to lose.

It's hard for me to explain why I like a book, or put in my own thoughts, so I thought I would answer some of the "book club" questions that were in the end of the book because they brought up some interesting points.

1. Do you think racism is inherent or taught?

I think this is a very good question. I think racism is taught. When kids are little, they don't care what color someone's skin is, they learn to love people according to they way they are treated. This book is a good example. Mae Mobly, a white child, loves Aibileen, her black maid, and even calls her "momma" because Aibileen loves her and takes good care of her. However, once Mae Mobly goes to school her teachers tell her how much better white people are. Also, at home Mae Mobly gets yelled at by her mother for using Aibileen's bathroom, because black people are "diseased". I really believe that racism is taught to future generations through both words and actions. Unfortunately, there are still racist people, and it will probably always exist to a certain degree.

2. Do you think that one can be a good mother, and at the same time, a deeply flawed person?

This question is asking about Hilly. Hilly is an interesting character because she is probably the best mother out of all the white characters in the book, but she is also the meanest character. She shows nothing but love and affection for her children, but completely shuns Skeeter from her life once she finds out about Skeeter getting involved with civil rights. I do believe that Hilly is a deeply flawed person, but I don't think that she can be a good mother at the same time. Sure she shows those children love and takes care of them, but what types of morals and belief systems is she teaching her children. What would she have done if one of her children had become friends with a black child? Being a mother is more than just taking care of your childrens' physical needs. I just don't believe that Hilly could have raised her children to be good, kind-hearted people, actions do speak louder than words.

3. Who was your favorite character, and why?

I really enjoyed all the main characters (Minny, Skeeter, and Aibileen) but I would have to say Skeeter is my favorite. I'm not picking her because she's white, I am picking her because I feel like she decided what she wanted, she went after it, and she wasn't going to take no for an answer. She wanted to try and help black maids by making the nation aware of how terrible their working conditions are and how little they get paid. She decided to do this by writing a book based on interviews with the maids.

Skeeter had little to gain and a lot to lose by writing this book. She ended up being outcasted by all of her friends (and eventually the entire town), she gave up an engagement to a man she loved, and she lost her job working on a newsletter for the League. She also wrote the book anonymously, so she didn't get any public credit for all of her hard work. She risked a lot to help the maids try to improve their living situation.

I am just impressed with how much courage Skeeter had. I mean in was the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. All the women who worked on the book risked a lot to try and improve their lives. It is people like these that helped form the Civil Rights Movement and bring equality for all.

I guess I just really enjoyed this book. I have always been impressed by people like Martin Luther Kind Jr, Rosa Parks, and Abraham Lincoln, who are willing to fight for what they believe is right, no matter the consequences. I like to think that if I had been around in the 1960s I would have been one of those people advocating for blacks' rights. I maybe wouldn't have been a public figure, but I would have been trying to find any way to help that I could. It make me feel ashamed to think about how white people treated black people back in the 1960s, but I am proud of how far America has come.

Books like The Help remind us of our history, but they also remind us that even the most ordinary people have the ability to do extraordinary things when they put all their effort into doing the right thing.

I highly recommend this book. I also plan to see the movie sometime in the near future, I have heard it is very good. Thanks for reading my thoughts and ideas on this book, and feel free to share your own!

Another Purchase

2011-09-12T17:06:00.000-05:00

Well, nobody every said that being a homeowner didn't involve needing to buy things. I feel like that is all we have done these last few months. Most of the items are pretty fun to buy, like new furniture and decorative items for the house. However, John and I bought a snowblower a few days ago.

Apparently August/September is a good time to buy a snowblower because the prices only go up after that. We headed to Ideal Yardware and picked out a snowblower that would work for us. It is sort of depressing though, because I do not want to think about going outside to blow snow at 6:00 am before heading to work. I am cold just thinking about it. But we will survive. The joys of Midwestern winters! Neither John or I have ever used a walk-behind snowblower, so this will be interesting!

Here is our new Ariens Snowblower.

10 Year Anniversary of 9/11

2011-09-11T16:08:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe it has been ten years since 9/11. I can remember that day like it was yesterday. I was 14 years old and I was a freshman in high school. We completed out first class of the day, and I was in homeroom at around 9:00 am. I can't remember if there was an announcement, but we turned on the TV and saw that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. At the time, I really didn't know what the World Trade Center was, but I knew something was obviously wrong.

I really did not understand the importance of what happened at the time. Homeroom ended ten minutes later, and we all continued on for the rest of the school day. I remember thinking that maybe it was just an accident or something. However, once I got home literally every TV channel was reporting on the events that happened that day. I didn't know anything about the Pentagon or Shanksville, PA until I got home and listened to all the news.

This was the first attack on America that I had ever lived through, and I remember being scared. I just didn't know what to expect. Were we heading toward WWIII? Would we retaliate? Are we safe? As scary as those next couple days were, I remember how comforting it was to see Americans united and face the aftermath of the attack. The heroic acts of many Americans helped remind me what this country stands for, and if we come together we can face anything.

Now, ten years later we remember all those people lost on 9/11. We remember the rescue workers who risked their own lives to save others. We remember the courage of those aboard flight 93. We remember the families who lost someone on that terrible day. We remember all those who gave their lives during this War on Terrorism. We will always remember, but we also look to the future. We look forward to a time when there can be peace and all those serving over seas can come home. As long as Americans remain united, we can face anything that tomorrow brings.

God Bless America!

Vikings and Twins Game

2011-08-29T14:05:00.000-05:00

This last weekend was a blast. John's family and John and I went to the cities to see both a Vikings and a Twins game. We booked the trip through the radio station WNAX and took a coach bus to the cities. We left Sioux Falls at 8:30 in the morning and made the 4 hour journey to Minneapolis.

We got to the cities early enough that we could walk around Mall of America for a couple hours. I don't mind the mall, but two hours there is enough, especially after being on a bus all morning. We checked into the hotel next, and spent about an hour there relaxing a little. Then it was time to leave for the Metrodome.

The Vikings were playing a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys. It was a pretty fun game. It was nice to see Donovan McNabb in a Vikings jersey and throw a few good passes. The second half of the game got a little boring as all the second-string players were in. But we all had a good time at the game!

We got back to our hotel room at around 11:30 pm, and pretty much went to sleep almost immediately. The next morning we ate a continental breakfast and then headed to Target Field at 11:00 am. The Twins played the Detroit Tigers and had lost 7 in a row. They have had an injury-plagued season and there will be no postseason for them this year. However, we had perfect weather for the game and we got to see the Twins win 11-4.

It was a long drive back to Sioux Falls after the game. We watched the movie "Invincible" which helped pass some of the time. It was a great weekend, although Monday came way too fast!

"Toys" Book Review

2011-08-24T11:42:00.000-05:00

As I have mentioned several times, I am a pretty big James Patterson fan. I have read probably 90% of his books (and he has written a lot of books). Most recently, I went to the Sioux Falls Public Library and I checked out the book "Toys" by James Patterson. I read the book flap, and decided that this book was going to be a little different than a usual James Patterson book.

Usually a James Patterson book is centered on detectives solving murders, but this book is a scientific genre based in the future. In the book, it is the year 2061, and humans came very close to destroying the world (basically along the lines of Global Warming) so these genetically engineered Elites saved the world from being destroyed. The Elites are smarter, faster, and stronger than humans and are basically in control of the world. The Elites run the government, law enforcement, and most businesses. However. the Elites still need humans to invent items and perform domestic duties such as cooking and cleaning.

Now, I am not going to describe the entire book to you, but what happens is the Elites try to extinguish the human race, and of course the humans fight back. There are many more twists and turns in the book, but basically that is the underlying story.

A couple chapters in, I wasn't really feeling this book. I am not a huge fan of scientific books set in the future. However I really enjoyed this book and let me tell you why.

1. It reminded me that humans can be amazing in times of need. Lately all we ever hear in the news is bad things happening. People being killed, robbing banks/gas stations, or showing other signs of hatred. It was refreshing to be reminded that humans can be inspiring, creative, compassionate, and united when called upon.

2. The book was suspenseful. I couldn't put the book down, anxious to know what was going to happen next. The ending is fairly predictable, but there are many unpredictable steps along the way. That is James Patterson writing at it's finest.

3. It touched on technology and how it can be a bad thing if not used properly. It discussed how people can become so obsessed with items or "toys". Sometimes people become obsessed with needing the newest "toy" that they lose perspective on more basic things. I agree completely. Don't get me wrong, I love my smart phone and my laptop, and I use the internet constantly. However, there is a joy is being able to disengage ourselves from these things, and take joy in the simple things in life.

If you are looking for a good book, that is a little different from what you are used to reading, think about giving "Toys" a try. You won't be disappointed.

Biking in Yankton

2011-08-21T14:34:00.000-05:00

My husband has been telling me that Yankton is a great place to go camping, and they have really nice bike trails. We didn't feel like going camping for the entire weekend, so we just brought the bikes down to Yankton for the day. It's about an hour and 15 minute drive to Yankton. It was also Riverboat Days while we were in Yankton, so we grabbed some lunch in town before hitting up the bike trails.

The bike trails were very nice and the view was beautiful as we were able to bike along the water. The temperature was great, the sun was shining, the weather was just about perfect, and then came the mayflies. I have never seen mayflies so thick. We eventually had to take the trails further from the water, just so we wouldn't be biking through a wall of mayflies. They covered campers, trees, and fences. They took some of the fun out of the beautiful day.

We still enjoyed our bike ride!

We also visited Gavin's Point Dam, which is very high right now due to all the flooding from earlier this summer/spring. All the flood gates are still open, so there is a lot of water flowing through the dam right now!

It was a fun trip to Yankton, and I look forward to going again and actually staying for the weekend to do some camping. Hopefully the mayfly population won't be so high the next time!

Our Anniversary, a week late...

2011-08-21T13:08:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, on August 14th, my husband and I celebrated our One Year Anniversary. I know everyone says this, but I cannot believe it has been an entire year since we got married. I can still recall the details of our wedding day like it was yesterday. This last year has been amazing, and we have taken a lot of big steps as a couple. We moved in together, bought a house, and we went to Hawaii together.

On our anniversary, it was my weekend to work. I did get VTO at 3:00pm, so John and I went to eat at Bracco's for supper. We sat on the patio, and it was a really fun environment and the food was good, but it was pretty expensive as well. We finished up our evening by eating the wedding cake that has been in our freezer for the last year. It kept really well. The flavor was still good and it was still pretty moist. We also watched our wedding videos that we hadn't sat down and watched yet. It was fun to relieve the day and remember some things we had forgot all about.

It was a great first anniversary, and I look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries with the love of my life and my best friend.

Turner County Fair

2011-08-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

For the third year in a row, John and I hit up the Turner County Fair. The fair is located in Parker, where John grew up, so John has been going to this fair all his life. It reminds me of the Renville County Fair, the fair I grew up going to. They both have pretty boring commercial exhibits, the same old rides and food stands in the same places every year, and the same entertainment every year. However, we still attend every year just to see people and socialize with them.

This year we were only at the fair for a couple hours. We walked the grounds, ate with John's parents, and then headed back home, feeling that we had seen everything. Even though it wasn't super exciting, I still like going. There's nothing like going to a county fair in the middle of August to make it feel like summer time. John promised that maybe next year we could go to my not-so-exciting Renville County Fair. :)

Sioux Empire Fair

2011-08-11T10:09:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again, fair time! I love going to county fairs. As a 4-H member, I grew up attending the Renville County Fair every year. Since I usually had a horse at the fair, attending the fair meant being there for three full days to clean out stalls and take care of the animals. So, anyway, I get excited for the fair.

Now that I live in Sioux Falls, I thought it would be a good year for me to try out the Sioux Empire Fair, which is located just a few blocks from our house. This year the fair allowed you to pay admission at the gate and then get into the grandstand for free. John and I went to the fair on Tuesday. We walked the grounds, and then of course had some amazing fair food.

At around 7:00 we went to the grandstands to get a good seat. Then, we got to watch an awesome show by Thompson Square and Jerrod Neimann. The show was a ton of fun, both groups were very entertaining and I knew most of the songs they played. Unfortunately, we didn't think to bring our camera along, so I don't have any pictures to share.

We left around 11, and Jerrod Neimann was still playing, so we listened to the last couple songs from our driveway. It was a long 12 hour shift the next day, but it was so worth it!

We listened to Ted Nugent from our driveway last night and tonight Tracy Lawrence and Steel Magnolia will be playing. Friday night Hinder is playing. So, for the next couple nights we have some good entertainment heading our way. Like I said, I love fair season :)

Weekend with my sister

2011-08-07T18:23:00.000-05:00

My sister, Rachel, lives in Mankato, Minnesota, and we have been talking about getting together for the last couple months. We finally found a weekend that worked for the both of us. So, Rachel headed to our house on Friday.

Friday evening Rachel arrived I started off by giving her a tour of our house. Then since it was so nice out we decided to set up some lawn chairs in the driveway and drink some beer. My brother Ryan also stopped by as he was parking his truck in our driveway while he went camping in West River. We grilled some steaks and drank some beer, and had a good evening. We then decided to rent "True Grit" and then we called it a night.

On Saturday, we ate lunch at Casa del Ray. John went to go shoot a wedding, so Rachel and I went shopping. We pretty much shopped away the afternoon. At 6:00 I got ready and went to Steve and Melanie Pierson's wedding It was an outdoor wedding, and it was really beautiful. Steve was John's RA in college, so we know him really well. It was one of those things where I knew about three people at the wedding, so I got pretty bored once the meal was over. So, I ditched out at about 9:30 and I went and saw "Bridesmaids" at the cheap theatre with Rachel and her friend, Sara. Let me just say that "Bridesmaids" is a hilarious movie.

We rounded off Sunday by eating lunch at Taste of the Big Apple and hitting up a few more stores. Rachel just headed out of town about an hour ago, and I am ready to unwind and enjoy the rest of the evening.

My Staycation

2011-07-26T17:28:00.000-05:00

We all know what a vacation is, I am on my very own stay-cation. My husband is gone fishing in Canada until Friday, so I am left to tend to the house on my own for the week. It's kind of nice having the place to myself to do what I want when I want. Don't get me wrong, I miss my husband and I look forward to his return, but in the mean time, it's nice to do everything on my own terms.

I went grocery shopping and planned my own meals for the next couple days. Tonight I am making BLTs, sweet corn, and green beans from our garden. I think I make better meals when John is away. I also stocked up on Pineapple and Strawberries, YUM!

Otherwise, nothing too exciting is going on during my vacation-away-from-my-husband. I plan to get a massage tomorrow, maybe some retail therapy, and some other errands. Also, the lawn needs to be mowed. All in all, I am enjoying my time but looking forward to this weekend :D

In the meantime, I am just relaxing at home...(to be clear, this picture is of Hawaii, but it makes me think about relaxing on the beach)

Camping in Minnesota

2011-07-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

This last weekend John and I headed to Minnesota to do some camping with my parents and my sister. We went to Diamond Lake where my parents park their camper for the summer. We spent Friday evening setting up and sitting around the campfire in the heat. It was very hot and humid all weekend and the mosquitoes were terrible! I put on about 3 layers of bugspray throughout the evening.

Saturday was another hot/humid day. It was about 90 degrees with a heat index around 100. We went fishing in the morning and actually had some pretty good luck. My mom caught 3 northerns, and the rest of at least caught one. We ate fish for lunch and then headed out on the boat again to do some swimming, tubing, and knee boarding. It felt really good to jump in the lake and cool down! In the evening we played 31 with some neighbors for a while and then called it a night due to the bugs and humidity.

Sunday came much too fast, and consisted of a little fishing in the morning, some bean bags, a light lunch, and then the four hour drive home. The weekend flew by, but I had a great time, minus the 52 mosquito bites I sustained. It was a fun weekend though, and it felt good to finally get to the lake this summer.

Leeches at work

2011-07-12T11:36:00.000-05:00

I usually don't blog about work, because as a nurse, I have to be very careful about what I say. HIPPA (basically an acronym for confidentiality) is very strict on these things, and since I like having my nursing license, obviously I have to keep the details to a minimum. However, I decided to blog about work because I was able to do something different at work the other day.

We had a patient that needed leech therapy. We received sterilized leeches from Pharmacy, and then every half hour or so we had to put a leech on the patient. The point of leech therapy is to increase blood flow to the area you are working on. Let me just say that I am not a huge fan of leeches. They don't freak me out, but I don't especially like to play with them either.

I spent a lot of time figuring out how leeches attach and how to work with them. They were really frustrating! You would think with all the blood around the leech would attach no problem, but they are fussy little things. So anyway, I did not expect to have to handle leeches as a nurse, they definitely did not teach me that in nursing school!

Classics

2011-07-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

I love to read. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, I usually have a book on my nightstand. Usually I like to read for entertainment, so I enjoy books by James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, or Dan Brown. These books are usually a pretty easy read and don't require a lot of thinking.

I was browsing Barnes and Noble ( a store I absolutely love to browse) and I discovered their classical book section. I remember reading some of these books in high school English classes, so I thought I would try some of the books I have never read. I bought Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice.

I am about halfway through Wuthering Heights and I am really enjoying it! It is definitely a different read from modern books, but there is a reason these books are considered classics and have survived as long as they have. I am also enjoying reading a book that has a little more substance and makes me think. So if you are searching for a good read I suggest finding a classic book that works for you. I also recommend Little Women, The Jungle, Huckleberry Finn, Of Mice and Men, or The Grapes of Wrath. These are all great reads and not too difficult to understand.

So, challenge yourself and read a classic!

Bikes!

2011-06-25T15:37:00.001-05:00

John and I have been talking about buying some bicycles for quite a while. The problem was that John is 6'8 and those cheap Wal-mart bikes don't fit him very well. So we decided to save up some money and buy ourselves some quality bikes.

John did some shopping around and decided to best place was Two Wheeler Dealer right here in Sioux Falls. Yesterday after work John and I headed to Two Wheeler Dealer to do some shopping. We had an excellent salesman, Aaron, help us. He explained all the bikes to us such as what the different features were and in what situations we would prefer one bike over the other.

Once we each decided which bike we liked we took them out for a test ride. Aaron helped fit the bikes for us to help us decide which size fit us best and then he let us ride them as long as we wanted to test them out. These bikes can be pretty expensive, but they come with great staff and services. The price includes a 30 day check up and a one year check up in which their staff will fix any problems they find and just do general maintenance.

John and I both found bikes we really liked, so we bought them and then headed to the bike trail. It was a gorgeous evening for a bike ride and we really love our new bikes. We now have another activity to keep us busy on the weekends and evenings, and for a bonus feature, it's healthy! Next we need to get a bike rack for the Trailblazer so we can bring the bikes to different bike trails and campgrounds.

Here is a picture of my new bike (and you get to see my awesome self-timer photography skills! ha!)

Housewarming Party!

2011-06-19T15:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had our family housewarming party. First of all, we had beautiful weather! It was about 80 degrees, sunny, and just a little breezy. We couldn't have asked for better weather.

We also had a very good turnout. Pretty much everyone who said they were going to make it, showed up. Everyone from my dad's side of the family came, and a lot of John's family was able to make it as well. Since my dad's side of the family all live 3 hours away, they showed up first around 12:30 pm. We showed everyone the house and then we hung out in the backyard visiting and playing yard games.

People kept showing up throughout the afternoon. We grilled food for supper along with salads, beans, and bars. As with all family events, we had way too much food.

We ended our day with a campfire and some conversation. We had a great party and couldn't have asked for a better day!

New items!

2011-06-15T16:22:00.000-05:00

I feel like my last few blogs have been pretty wordy, so for this blog I am going to show pictures of the new items we purchased for our house over the last couple months.

Our new kitchen table and chairs

Our new stools for our breakfast bar

Our sectional in the basement

The TV we bought to fit above our fireplace

Our new lawn mower

Our patio set and Tiki torches

I didn't realize how many new things we needed until we got our house!! I also have to show our garden which is coming along very well!

And last but not least, I am very proud of my husband for building a bean bag game. I asked him to make one so we would have one for our house warming party for our family this weekend. I hope we get some good weather! I am very excited to have everyone here to see the new house!

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Grand Falls Casino Resort

2011-06-14T16:23:00.001-05:00

Grand Falls Casino Resort is a brand new casino that just opened June 9th in Larchwood, IA. I have never been to (or heard of) Larchwood, IA, but apparently it's only about a 15 minute drive from our house.

Now, I am not a casino junkie by any means. I could really care less about gambling. I don't mind playing blackjack for the entertainment, but once my $20 is gone, I am done. The only time I really allowed myself to really gamble was when I went to Vegas, since it's like the gambling capital of the world. But, anyway I am going off topic, let me reset.

I am excited for this casino, because there is so much more than just gambling. Check out the website above if you want to see what I mean. This casino has spas, a golf course, hotel, a salon, a couple different dining choices, and best of all entertainment. I think I am most excited for the potential of new entertainment this facility could bring to the Sioux Falls area.

John and I are planning on making an evening trip to the casino soon. I am excited to see this brand new facility and all that it offers. So, if you are heading to Sioux Falls anytime soon check out the brand new Grand Falls Casino.

Summertime

2011-06-08T10:08:00.000-05:00

I love summer! These last couple days have been about 93 degrees and very humid. Now, I don't need 90 degree weather to appreciate summer, but I don't mind a little heat either. I just think about the days during the winter when it was -35 and snow was blowing everywhere, and I learn to appreciate the hot and sticky.

The next couple days are supposed to be in the 70s, now that is more my type of summer weather. I love to read a book out on our deck basking in the sun. I also like to take late night summer walks with my husband. Basically, I like to be outside as much as possible during the summer. I sure wish it lasted longer is all.

I also really like grilling during the summer. I think we could grill every meal and I wouldn't get sick of it. We also have become people who love doing yard work. There is something about living in town that makes you care how your yard looks. I grew up on a farm where we had a ton of lawn to mow, and we were happy when the lawn dried up and we didn't have to mow that week. Here, if it doesn't rain, we water the lawn to make sure it looks as good as our neighbors.

We also have a garden that we fuss over. I pretty much weed, hoe, or water it every day and I get really excited when new plants sprout up. I am getting really excited to eat veggies out of our garden later this summer.

I am also in love with out patio this summer. I have never had a patio or deck before, and I love spending time out on both. So, to sum up I love summer, but it makes me sad to think about how fast it goes by. Guess I better enjoy everyday of it while it's here!

This is actually a picture of Hawaii from our honeymoon, but summer makes me think of Hawaii and I miss Hawaii, so here's a nice memory to share. :D

Rib Fest 2011

2011-06-04T09:41:00.001-05:00

After living in Sioux Falls for over two years, I finally made it to Rib Fest this summer. I had a really good time! The weather was beautiful, it was around 78 degrees and actually not windy for once. Rib fest is held at the Sioux Falls Arena parking lot, and is basically a huge backyard BBQ.

John and I arrived at Rib Fest at around 8:00 pm. It was $5 to get in the gate, and then it was time to shop for food. It was pretty much packed when we got there as well. Apparently a beautiful evening along with BBQ and beer really brings people out!

There were eight different vendors serving BBQ, and each one was displaying all the trophies and awards they had won for best BBQ. The vendors were Famous Daves, Desperado's, Willingham's, Porky 'N' Beans, Johnson's BBQ, Aussom Aussie, Cowboy's, and Rausta Joe's BBQ. John has been to Rib Fest quite a few times, so we hit up Cowboy's which was a new vendor this year. I thought it was really good, but I really can't think of a time when I have had BBQ and not enjoyed it.

We had to eat standing up because it was so packed, but it was delicious. Next we needed some beer to quench our growing thirst. We had to stand in line forever, but I got a Summer Shandy which tasted great. I love seasonal beers!

Finally, it was time for the entertainment. The Gin Blossoms played from about 9:30-10:45. I had never heard of them before, but I knew quite a few of their songs such as "Hey Jealousy" or "Follow you down". It was a great night. We met up with John's brother and some of other friends and had a great evening. The food and beer are pretty expensive, but it was a great evening and I look forward to going to Rib Fest again next year!

Lawn Care

2011-05-23T12:19:00.000-05:00

Now that my husband and I own a home, I have a lawn to take care of. My parents were nice enough to give us their old push-mower for us to start out with. Well, I mowed our entire lawn last week with it, and while it works fine, it is hard to push and our lawn is very hilly.

John and I made a trip to Home Depot to buy a new lawn mower. I have never gone lawn mower shopping before, and I must say it was pretty fun. We bought a Torro Push-Mower that is self-propelled. We put it together and tested it out that same day, and we really like it. We also bought a Torro weed wacker, and put that to the test.

I never thought Home Depot would be one of my favorite stores to shop at, or that I would care so much about how my lawn looks. Apparently when you live in town, you care a little bit more about how your lawn measures up to your neighbor's lawn.

John and I also planted a garden this year. Now, I don't really have a green thumb, but we couldn't resist trying to grow something in our garden this year. We planted some green beans, onions, and tomatoes. We will have to wait and see if anything grows this summer.

Needless to say we are getting settled into our house and we are loving every minute of it. The next item on our agenda is to have a housewarming party to show our house off to our family and friends. It going to be a fun summer!

Another year wiser...

2011-05-16T10:45:00.000-05:00

I am a little late on this, but my birthday was about a week and a half ago, and I always do a blog around my birthday reflecting on the last year. This last year was pretty busy and was filled with many milestones.

A lot of things happened to me while I was 23. I moved into our two bedroom apartment by myself until John moved in after we were married. I married my best friend on August 14, 2010. We went to Hawaii and had a wonderful time on our Honeymoon. We also bought a house this year. Buying a house is a major purchase and a commitment, but we are so happy with our house. Last night we spent the evening mowing the lawn, spraying the dandelions, and just spending time in our yard. I never knew that Home Depot would become my favorite place to shop!

I also made my first vehicle purchase this year. My last car was still my high school car that my parents bought for me, so this was the first vehicle I had to purchase on my own. It is very exciting to have an updated vehicle and I am loving it, I just wish I wouldn't have had to buy it at the same time we bought our house. However, everything worked out great and maybe we are done with major purchases for at least a few months!

All in all, it was a very busy year for me! A lot of things happened. While I am very happy with where my life is right now, and I enjoyed this last year, I am hoping that this next year can consist of us settling into our house and enjoying these new steps in our lives.

Easter

2011-04-26T11:11:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy Easter! I spent the holiday at my in-laws, on their farm just outside Parker, SD. The day was glorious. It was sunny (which we have not seen a whole lot of this spring) and around 60 degrees. It was an absolute heat wave! So, after eating too much food, we spent the rest of the day outdoors enjoying the fabulous day.

I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday!

Our Home

2011-04-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

My husband and I are homeowners! In January, we started the process of getting approved for a home loan and getting ourselves a Realtor. We also went to many open houses and looked online at houses until our eyes bled.

We looked at around 30 houses throughout the entire process, and it was an emotional ride. We fell in love with a couple houses, only to find out there was already an offer pending before we could even make one. It's hard to not get too invested into a house when you finally find one that works. As fun as it is to shop for houses, it can be stressful as well. It helped that we were not in a huge hurry to find a house, we wanted to take our time and really find the right house to fit our needs.

So we continued to look for houses, and on a random weekend we went to an open house and found a house we absolutely loved. It was a ranch style house, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, deck and patio, a large backyard, fireplace, and three-stall garage. It was pretty much everything we wanted in a house and we fell in love with it. So, learning from our past mistakes, we called out Realtor on a Saturday afternoon and told him about this house. We went back and looked at the house that evening, and by the next morning we had an offer made.

Needless to say, we got the house! We started cleaning the house the first weekend in April and started moving things in after that. We are all moved in now and enjoying having a house. The only thing that could make it better would be some warmer, sunny weather so we could actually enjoy the deck and patio. However we are getting good use out of the fireplace! Here are some pictures of our house.

New Car

2011-04-15T15:40:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I was unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident. I was driving my 1995 Oldsmobile and a car ran into the passenger side of my vehicle. All three panels of the passengers' side of my car are smashed, and the window shattered. Needless to say, my car was basically totaled.

I was pretty bummed about my car, and this all happened on John's Birthday, 5 days before we were supposed to close on our house. So yeah, we were pretty stressed during this time. We did close on the house, and we are getting settled (a future blog, I am just waiting for a nice day to get some pictures!) However, we were stalling on getting a newer vehicle since we had a million other things to worry about at the time.

Thankfully John's grandma had a minivan that was not being used, so I drove that around for a couple weeks. This last week, I have been driving his parents' Saturn View. Last night John and I decided things had settled down enough that we could finally go car shopping.

We had been looking online for a couple weeks, and finally decided to head to some of the dealerships in town and see what we could find. We made a couple stops and headed out to the Fairgrounds where Billion Automotive was having their spring sale. We looked around for quite a while and then found the vehicle that fit our needs.

It is a 2004 maroon Trailblazer. I really like it, and it is nice to finally have my own vehicle back again. So after signing our lives away with another loan, we drove our new vehicle home. It has been a very busy few weeks, but I look forward to blogging about the house and sharing pictures.

P.S. I sure hope this weather warms up a little. Snow in the middle of April is not my idea of spring!!!

Book Review

2011-03-17T10:33:00.000-05:00

I like to read fiction books. My favorite authors are James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, and Dan Brown. I was recently browsing at the library and I came across a book titled Under A Maui Moon by Robin Jones Gunn. This book caught my eye because I just went to Maui in November for my honeymoon, so I thought it would be fun to read a book that takes place on Maui.

I have never read a book by Robin Jones Gunn before, but I really enjoyed the book. The main character Carissa loses her job and is feeling disconnected from her husband, so she takes a trip to Maui to get away from it all and try and find herself. I really enjoyed the Maui references, such as camping in Haleakala State Park, visiting Lahaina, and swimming in the ocean. I could picture myself back in Maui as I read about Carissa visiting these places. This book really made me miss Maui.

This book also had quite a bit of Hawaiian history in it, which I found really interesting. This book isn't my typical style, but I really enjoyed the story. There was a personal connection for me for this story because it brought me back to the Island. It helped that I could visualize every scene they were referencing in the book. If you are looking for a romantic, Christian story that takes place on the island of Maui, this is the book for you.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the book!

10 Relationship Dos

2011-03-01T16:40:00.000-06:00

I have only been married for 7 months, but in that short time our relationship sure has gone through some changes. We spend a lot of time together when we were dating and engaged, but we did not live together before we got married. Living with the person you love is wonderful, but it can cause some stress as well. Being married in general comes with responsibilities and a commitment to each other. I thought I would share some of the things I have learned in a short amount of time.

10 Things You Should Do While In a Relationship

1. Listen to your significant other. This is probably the easiest and hardest thing to do at the same time. I love my husband, but I am guilty of doing the nodding and muttering an occasional "uh-ah" during conversations at times. Why do I do this? I don't really know. I don't know why it's hard to given my husband my full attention when he is talking. I do know that when I listen and give feedback or compliments, we obviously have better conversations and grow in our marriage. It's a constant battle. And don't worry, he does the same thing to me. But, the point is that we are aware of the importance of listening to one another and we are working towards doing better.

2. Don't sweat the small stuff. When living together, you learn your significant others bad habits that you weren't aware of before. My best piece of advice is to not make a bigger deal out of the situation than it really is. For example, my husband has this annoying habit of putting dirty dishes on the counter above the dishwasher. Why he doesn't just put them in is beyond me. I have learned that it doesn't kill me to put them in myself instead of starting an argument about it. Also, a gentle reminder is enough to get the job done. It is not worth the fight or stress to freak out about something small. Just remember that as many annoying little habits your spouse has, you probably have just as many, you are just not aware of them. :)

3. Start a joint checking account. Now, finances are tricky in a relationship. Nine times out of ten one partner is going to make more than the other, and that can cause power struggles. I suggest a joint checking account. There are several different ways to manage a joint checking account. For instance, you can put all your income in the joint checking account and pay all your bills with that account. You can also keep your personal accounts, but both transfer a set amount of money a month into the joint account to cover the expenses. I suggest the joint account because it saves the headache of trying to figure out what each person is responsible for paying. Plus, once you are married you inherit each other's debts and profits.

4. Big purchases need to be discussed together. This is another financial issue. I told you this topic was tricky. As a couple, you need to decide what a "big" purchase constitutes. For example, spending $1200 on a TV would be something that should be discussed between partners. If the reason for the purchase is reasonable and affordable, there should be no problem, but you will save an argument if you discuss it with your partner first.

5. Do not expect gender stereotypes. This is the 21st century, if you are expecting you wife to do all the cooking and your husband to take out the trash, your going to be disappointed. I am a nurse, and after working 12-14 hour days, there is no way in hell I am cooking supper when I get home. My husband is very good at preparing supper for me on nights like this, and it takes a large burden away from me on these nights. I am not saying he has to cook a 5 course meal, but anything will do when I am walking in the door at 8:30pm. Also, it is not uncommon for the woman to bring in a bigger paycheck in this day and age, so men don't let it bother you. I know that as a man your job plays a big role in defining who you are, but your partner is not with you for the amount of money you make. And if she is, you might want to reconsider things. Basically, what I am trying to say is to throw all those generalizations out the window and decide your specific roles within your own relationship and it will lead to a healthier relationship.

6. Split driving/music time. Let me explain. My parents live 3 hours away, so we spend a lot of time in the car traveling to Minnesota. I never knew such a small thing like listening to the radio could cause problems. We have very different tastes in music. I mean, we have plenty of groups that we both enjoy to listen to, but when he starts playing Pearl Jam or some type of rap music I get irritated because I cannot tolerate that music. The same goes when I play The Supremes or Lady Antebellum. We have learned to either listen to the music the other person hates while we are by ourselves or to take turns picking the music. The same goes for driving. The man thinking he always needs to drive is bogus. Take turns! It will make for a more enjoyable road trip and everyone will be happy.

7. Grocery shop together. When possible, do your grocery shopping together. You both will get to pick out items you want, and will gain a better appreciation of why the grocery bill is always so high. Also, you will have another set of arms to help haul the groceries inside.

8. Spend equal time with both sides of the family. If you are always hanging out with his side of the family and hardly ever spend anytime with your own family, you might start to feel some resentment. I don't care how far away the relatives are, be fair and visit with both sides equally, especially once there are kids in the picture. My husband and I do relatively well with this. My parents are the ones who live further away so we spend more time with his family, but we head to Minnesota every chance we get. We are a couple who enjoy spending time with family, so this is a priority for us.

9. Learn to compromise. Obviously there are going to be times when you just are not going to agree with your significant other. If you have truly reached an impasse, then it is time to compromise. Right now my husband and I have been shopping for furniture and we have a hard time agreeing on things. So we have both stated things that we absolutely would not be able to put up with, and then we will go from there. If both people are willing to give something up for the other, than you will be able to decide on something that will be acceptable to both parties. This can be tough if neither person is willing to budge, but just remember you love this person and he/she is more important than any item.

10. Make Love. Yes, sex. Do it. Some couples either once they move in or once they get married they get in a rut because things become routine. Come home from work, eat, watch TV, read in bed, and then go to sleep. Keep things from getting into a routine. Be spontaneous. Buy your girl some flowers for no reason. Wear something sexy for your man. Make having sex a high priority. It will keep both partners happier and give you good practice for when you are ready to have children :). I have come to notice that a lot of meaningful conversations happen in the bedroom. Just keep that in mind.

Obviously with just 7 months of marriage I am no expert. However, I have learned a lot in that time and I felt it was necessary to share with the rest of you. Sometimes the smallest actions speak the loudest. Also, I have come to learn that you can never compliment your partner enough. Whether it is telling them how pretty they are or how proud you are of them, it all means a lot.

I know I have many more things to learn and many more arguments to endure in the future. But I am completely in love with my husband and I am looking forward to the many, many years we have to figure everything out.

Thanks for reading!

Winter Blues

2011-02-08T09:15:00.000-06:00

It is fricken freezing outside. I know I live in South Dakota, and that cold temperatures are normal this time of year. However, waking up to -15 degrees is just down right depressing. It is cold. The bright side is that I have today off from work, so I can curl up with a blanket and some hot chocolate and just enjoy being a bum for the day.

If you live down south, be grateful that you don't have to deal with temperatures like these. On a positive note though, we are almost to the middle of February, which means warm temperatures must be on their way (at least that is what we are hoping).

So, to sum up, it is freezing here in South Dakota and we are all looking forward to spring.

My Favorite Music

2011-01-31T19:24:00.000-06:00

I am not one to go crazy when experimenting with music. Luckily I am married to someone who loves to buy new CDs and try out new types of music. He has introduced me to a lot of great music (and some not so great music). I am going to share with you some of my favorite music to listen to.

1. Zac Brown Band. We have their newest CD You Get What You Give and I pretty much love every song on that CD. It makes for very easy listening.

2. The Avett Brothers. Their CD I And Love And You, is awesome. Before I met my husband I had never listened to them before, now they are one of my favorite groups.

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Love their songs.

4. Foo Fighters. I love all of their CDs.

5. Jack Johnson. He is from Hawaii, and we listened to his music a lot when we were in Hawaii. I love all of his music, his songs are great.

6. Kings of Leon. I haven't listened to them too much, but what I have heard, I have liked.

7. Ray LaMontange. We picked one of his songs for our first dance at our Wedding. I really like his music.

8. Shinedown.

9. The Temptations. They are an oldie, but a goodie. I pretty much know all their songs by heart. I can thank my dad and his habit of listening to oldies for this one.

10. Weezer.

These are in no way the only groups I listen to, but they are some of my favorites. My husband has introduced me to almost all of these groups. I like being open to the idea of listening to new music, even though I can be stubborn about it at first. If you are looking for some good music, try any of the groups listed above.

A Community I Love

2011-01-29T09:26:00.000-06:00

I grew up in Fairfax, a small town in south central Minnesota. It has a population of about 1700, and the best places to eat are the bar or the gas station. The nearest Wal-Mart is 30 minutes away, and everyone knows everything about everyone else.

I currently live in Sioux Falls, SD, which is a pretty big city compared to what I grew up in. I love living in Sioux Falls, in that I am close to everything I need. I don't need to travel an hour to go shopping, or commute half an hour to work. I do love where I am living, but there is a feeling of happiness that I get when I do go back to visit Fairfax from time to time.

When I go back to Minnesota to visit my parents and the community of Fairfax, all sorts of childhood memories come back to me. I lived in this small community for the first 21 years of my life. I know just about everybody that lives in Fairfax, I went to school in Fairfax, and I worked my first part-time jobs in Fairfax. It's just nice to go back to the small community life for a few days and remember what it's like to see all the people I grew up with. There is a special place in my heart for the community of Fairfax.

However, as much as I like to go back to my parent's home from time to time and visit, I am very happy to not be living in Fairfax anymore. It is great to live in a new city where I can meet new people and start new memories. I better get used to Sioux Falls, since soon we will be buying a house here!

So I guess what I am saying is that I love going back to visit Fairfax and remembering the small town life and all my childhood memories. However, I am enjoying this next chapter in my life in Sioux Falls.

House Shopping

2011-01-17T10:26:00.000-06:00

We started the process of getting a house a few days ago. We went to the bank about a month a ago and got pre-approved for a loan. Last week, we called our Realtor, and we have spent the last few days looking at homes.

It is so exciting to look at houses, and know that one could potentially be the one we live in for the next 30 years. The process of getting a home is a bit overwhelming, but it is fun. We are taking our time looking, and we want to see plenty of homes so we get what we want.

We have looked at about 14 homes or so, and we have a top three that we like. We will continue to shop around for homes for the next couple weeks, and hopefully we will find one we love, and make an offer. I can't wait to live in house, and have a yard, and plenty of room to decorate and fill with new furniture.

I am having a lot of fun shopping for a house, and cannot wait until we find the right one to make our home!

Family Time

2011-01-10T16:33:00.000-06:00

My parents, brother, and sister came to Sioux Falls to visit John and me this last weekend. It was nice to see the family again, as I didn't get to see them for Christmas this year.

My family arrived on Friday afternoon and we visited in our apartment for most of the afternoon, before heading to Falls Park to see all the Christmas lights still up. We ate out at Cherry Creek Steakhouse and then headed to their hotel to hang out for a while.

On Saturday we went to the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Washington Pavillion, downtown Sioux Falls. I wouldn't call myself an art person, but it was pretty cool to see original Norman Rockwell paintings.

We ended the weekend with a lunch at The Taste of New York, which was delicious. Before we knew it, it was time for my family to head home. It was nice to hang out with my family again, even for just a short weekend. My family is very important to me, and I love spending time with them.

A New Year

2011-01-04T08:54:00.000-06:00

Well, it's 2011! That's hard to believe, time is flying.

So, 2010 was a great year. I got my first full-time job as a nurse at Avera. I moved into a new apartment. I married my best friend and began a new chapter in my life.

2011 promises to be a great year as well. We hope to buy our first home. Apart from that, we will just have to wait and see what the new year brings. I'm not one for making new year's resolutions, I just hope to have a great year!

Happy New Year!!!!!

Christmas Card

2010-12-25T16:34:00.000-06:00

So, we weren't on the ball this year, and we never got a Christmas Card printed and sent out. So, I made John go stand by the tree about 5 minutes ago, and we snapped a quick shot. So, consider this your Internet Christmas Card.

Have A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A Non-Traditional Christmas

2010-12-25T16:13:00.000-06:00

This year Christmas is a little different for my husband and me. Normally for Christmas I head to Minnesota to hang out with all of my extended family. Christmas Eve usually consists of heading to a Christmas Eve Program that my cousins are in, and then heading to my aunt and uncle's house to enjoy appetizers and munchies for the rest of the evening. Christmas day means going to church and then spending the rest of the day surrounded by family.

This Christmas has been nothing like that. First of all, being a nurse, I was scheduled to work the 24, 25, and 26. So needless to say, I did not plan anything for those day, anticipating that I would have to work. I was sort of bummed about it too, because this is my first Christmas with my husband, and I wouldn't even hardly get to see him. So, anyway, I worked a 12 hour shift on Friday (Christmas Eve) and hit the hay early last night to get ready for another long day.

At 5:00am, I got a phone call from work telling me I was mandated from work, meaning they didn't need me today because there were too few of patients. Immediately I felt some relief in the fact that I did not have to work on Christmas, and I went back to sleep for a couple more hours of rest. However, once John and I woke up, we realized we didn't have any plans for Christmas Day.

We ended up starting our day by watching White Christmas. A classic Christmas movie, although this is the first time I have ever watched it. Next we actually headed to Avera McKennan Hospital for lunch. On Thanksgiving and Christmas Avera offers a free meal to the public. We had turkey, ham, stuffing, corn, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie, coleslaw, and bread. It was actually really good, and free. Since we had no dinner plans, it worked out well.

After lunch we headed back to the apartment to play on our Wii. I bought John Mario Cart for Christmas and we have been having a lot of fun with the game. Basically now we are just hanging out and enjoying the holiday. It is a bit strange to not be surrounded by family and food today, but I have had an awesome Christmas with my husband, and couldn't ask for anything more.

Merry Christmas!

Hawaii Day 7

2010-12-23T10:06:00.000-06:00

Our last day on Maui. We packed and brought all of our luggage to our rental car before heading to the farewell ceremony the hotel staff puts on. The hotel staff gives every guest a nut lei, and everytime you come back to the hotel, they exchange one of the dark nuts for a light colored nut, and then the lei represents how many times you have visited the island.

We walked around the beach for a while trying to soak everything in on our last day. We headed to Lahaina to look around and take another look at the ocean. We headed to Kahului next. We stopped at a historic park near the airport before heading for the airport. Our flight left at 8:00pm and we were there a few hours early. By this point, we were ready to head home. We flew all night and got into Sioux Falls at about 1:30 pm. It was a long night of flying! We had a great time and cannot wait for our next adventure.

Hawaii Day 6

2010-12-23T09:47:00.000-06:00

On Monday, our last full day on Hawaii, we woke up at 2:30 am to go to the top of a dormant volcano named Haleakala to watch the sunrise. We drove 2.5 hours to get to the top of the volcano and then stood in the complete darkness waiting for the sun to rise. It was about 35 degrees out and very windy on top of the volcano. It was pretty miserable waiting for the sun to rise, but once it rose, it was all worth it.

After we watched the sun rise, we went to a lookout tower on the top of the volcano to see the view. Then we headed to a beach called Big Beach. We swam in the ocean for a while, and then we stumbled across a nude beach. That was a little awkward, and not very pretty. Haha. We headed back to the hotel to take a nap since we were up so early, and then we headed down to our beach by our hotel. We watched the sunset for the last time on Maui and then went for another late night walk before watching live Hawaiian music and having a few drinks.

Hawaii Day 5

2010-12-22T10:37:00.000-06:00

Day 5 was Sunday, and we did what all people should do on Sundays, and we just relaxed. First of all we went snorkeling around Black Rock, which is located on the same beach as our hotel. We snorkeled from about 8am-10am. We were told to get out early to snorkel as that is when we would see the most activity in the ocean. We saw plenty of fish and every some sea turtles.

After we were finished with our first set of snorkeling, I decided I wanted a break and I took to tanning on a lounge chair and reading one of the magazines I had brought along. John hadn't had enough snorkeling yet so he went back into the ocean. After 5 days of not being apart at all, it was nice for us to each have a couple hours of time to ourselves. After John was done with his next round of snorkeling, we ate lunch at a food court at Whaler's Village. In the afternoon, we got some drinks at an outdoor cafe. I got a $9 Pina Colada which was awesome, and John got a beer. We also had to have some Mai Tais of course. The drinks were expensive, but they were delicious!

By the time we finished our drinks, we decided it was time to take a break from the sun and get out of our swimsuits for the day. By the time we emerged from our hotel room, the sun was setting and we went for a sunset walk along the board walk. It was a wonderful, relaxing day that we spent on the same beach.

Hawaii Day 4

2010-12-22T10:23:00.000-06:00

Wow, sorry I haven't blogged in a while. December gets to be a crazy month.

So, day 4, Saturday, on Hawaii. We got up early, around 5:30 am, to hit the road around 6. Today we decided to do the road to Hana. Let me just explain a little bit about what the road to Hana it. It is what it sound like, in that it is a road that leads to a town called Hana. However, on this trip, it is the stops you make along the road to Hana that make the trip.

The road to Hana is about 68 miles long, and has 46 one lane bridges to pass through, and approximately 620 hair pin turns. Needless to say, it takes quite a while to travel this road, and beware if you are a person that gets carsick. Let me just say that the Hana Highway is the most beautiful, scenic road I have ever taken. The waterfalls, the lookout views of the ocean, the tropical flowers, it was gorgeous and well worth the trip!

We also came along a park called The Garden Of Eden where we discovered some beautiful flowers and scenic overlooks over the ocean.

We also stumbled across a black sand beach, which was pretty awesome. After the black sand beach we made it to Hana. Just past Hana we made a stop at the Haleakala National Park. We went here to see the Seven Sacred Pools. The sacred pools are a series of waterfalls and pools that trail through the O'heo Gulch and flows into the ocean. This was very beautiful to see as well. It actually rained for the first couple days on the island, so some of the park was marked off for us not to see because the water was so high. And, we pretty much had to walk though mudd the entire day, but it was well worth it.

Hawaii Day 3

2010-12-07T20:38:00.000-06:00

Our third day on Maui started off with us talking a long walk along the Ocean. We walked for about two hours along the shore and got some beautiful shots.

After our walk we headed to Lahaina, where our catamaran was scheduled to leave at 10:00 am. Before we left for our honeymoon, we booked a day with a company called Trilogy. This trip included a sailing trip to the island of Lanai, breakfast, lunch and snacks included, snorkeling on Lanai, and a tour of the island of Lanai. This trip was awesome.

We started off with some cinnamon rolls and juice, and we sailed to Lanai. It took about two hours to get there. On the trip there we saw some dolphins and had an awesome time.

After we arrived in Lanai, we immediately went snorkeling. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. We saw some awesome fish and coral.

When we were finished snorkeling we went on a van tour of the island. Next, they fed us some chicken, some kind of noodle mix, pineapple, peas, and bread. It was very good and there was a ton of food. After we were done eating, we headed back to Maui. We docked at Maui at about 7:00pm, it was a busy day. We walked around Lahaina for a while before heading back to Kaanapli to our hotel.
We went to bed physically exhausted, but we had had an awesome day (and possible had gotten a little sunburned).

Hawaii Day 2

2010-12-02T19:42:00.000-06:00

Our first full day on Maui! We started our day with a welcome breakfast at out hotel where the staff welcomed us by singing a couple Hawaiian tunes. We also were treated to a free breakfast and tips on what to do on the island. After breakfast we went exploring to see the ocean and whatever beautiful site we came across. Here are a couple that we found.

After doing some exploring, we went to Whaler's Village, which is an outdoor shopping mall. John got a pair of sunglasses and a Maui t-shirt and I got a couple t-shirts. The stores were fun to talk through, especially because there were really expensive stores like Gucci and New York and Co.

Next we headed to Lahaina to do some souviner shopping. We stopped at Cool Cats, which is known for its burgers-and it was very good. John and I split a burger since they were $12 each, not including fries and a drink. They are also well known for their special BBQ sauce, which was awesome!

After shopping, we decided to test out the ocean. It was a very windy day, and the water was very rough. We got our butts kicked by the huge waves! We had a blast though. After getting beat up in the ocean we decided to go try out our hotel pool and then squeeze in some suntanning.

Finally, it was time to do to the magic show we had booked earlier in the day. We cleaned up, and then headed to the magic show. This show included a 3 course meal, free mai-tais, hula dancing, a history of the island, and a magician. All in all, it was good entertainment and wonderful food. Both John and I were asked to come on stage to assist with different part of the show.

By the time the show was over (about 8:00 pm) we were ready for bed! Remember, there is a 5 hour time difference, we were still suffering from jet lag. We went to bed exhausted and excited for out sailing trip the next day. Thanks for reading!!!

Hawaii Part One

2010-12-01T11:30:00.000-06:00

After 3 months of eager anticipation, our honeymoon finally arrived. On the morning of November 3, John and I woke up at 4:00 am to make our flight out of Sioux Falls at 6:00 am. We flew for an hour to Chicago and then flew from Chicago to Honolulu for 8 and a half hours. Let me tell you. being on a plane for almost 9 hours straight was not the most enjoyable thing, but there were movies to watch and books to read. We reached Honolulu at 6 pm our time, but 1 pm Hawaiian time. That five hour time difference was a killer. The airport at Honolulu was an open airport with palm trees, it was beautiful.

We still had to make our final flight over to Maui. We arrived in Maui at about 4 pm Hawaiian time (9 pm our time). We basically had an entire day of traveling to get to Maui. But it was so worth it. We got our rental car, checked into our hotel, and did a little bit of exploring before passing out from exhaustion. We went to bed very excited about the week to come :D

Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T09:51:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving is tomorrow already. That is crazy. I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends and eating wonderful food. I love the Holidays. I also love that after Thanksgiving I can play Christmas Music constantly until Christmas arrives.

This Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a wonderful husband, a full-time job, and wonderful friends and family. We are living on our own and doing a fine job. We have many things to be grateful for this year, and I think we sometimes take these things for granted.

So, please remember to stop and think about all the things you are thankful for this Thanksgiving.

And...Thank you for reading :D

Professional Wedding Pictures

2010-11-24T09:16:00.012-06:00

Wow, time sure flies. It has been about a month since I last blogged. I just can't seem to keep up on my blog as much as I want to. Since I last blogged I have gone to Hawaii on my Honeymoon (which will be a future blog).

When we got home from Hawaii, we found our professional wedding pictures in our mailbox. I was very excited to see the wedding pictures and I could finally stop pestering my husband about when they would be ready.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T14:27:00.002-05:00

I love Halloween. I don't care about dressing up in a costume and hanging out at a bar, or eating a bunch of candy. I do love decorating for Halloween, carving pumpkins, and handing out candy to cute trick-or-treaters.

I just love the atmosphere for the holiday of Halloween. I like the creepy movies that come out and the haunted corn mazes, haunted houses, and various Halloween Parties.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I love Halloween and I wish you all a Happy Halloween. Be safe and have fun!

Favorite TV Shows

2010-10-31T14:10:00.003-05:00

So, I wouldn't say that I am a big TV watcher by any means, but I do have a handful of shows that I enjoy watching. The following are currently my favorite TV shows (in no particular order)

1. Bones. This show is very entertaining. It is about a forensic anthropologist and an FBI agent that team up to solve murders. I love the characters and the story line between them as well as the story line with the murder victims and finding out who committed the crime.

2. Dancing with the Stars. This one is a guilty pleasure of mine. I don't especially like reality TV, and this is the first season I have actually watched this show, and now I am addicted to it. It is entertaining to see celebrities trying to dance and then seeing the judges reactions. I don't actually vote for any couple, I just enjoy watching it and seeing what happens.

3. One Tree Hill. I have been watching this show since I was in high school and I own every season. It's one of those things where I have watched it for 7 years, that I can't help but continue. I love the characters in the show and I still find the show to be very entertaining.

4. The Office. I love the office. It is hilarious. I love the Jim-Dwight relationship and all the pranks they pull on Dwight. I think Michael is pretty annoying, but he can be funny at times. Overall, they have good storylines and I always laugh at some point during an episode.

5. Grey's Antomy. This show is probably my least favorite of this entire list. I have watched this show from the beginning as well, and I think the storyline has lost a lot since the beginning. However, I continue to watch because I have watched for the past 5 seasons and it is a show based on the medical profession, so I can relate to the show.

6. Burn Notice. This show is very entertaining. I love the characters and the story lines. The humor in this show is awesome. There is also a lot of action in this show. It is very unpredictable.

During the year, these are the shows I like to watch. I usually watch them online, since my work schedule is all over the place and I am not home a lot of evenings to watch. Everyone has favorite shows, and these are mine. So if you are looking for a TV show to watch, I would suggest any of the ones listed above. Just thought I would share. Thanks for reading!

Avera McKennan

2010-10-27T09:44:00.003-05:00

I just realized that I have never blogged about the place I work. I spend 36 plus hours a week at this place, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about it.

Well, it is a Catholic hospital, so it integrates faith into the healing process and offers chaplain services to any patient in the hospital. It has 545 beds in the entire hospital, which is a pretty decent sized hospital.

I had all of my clinicals in nursing school at Avera, and I have been working at Avera since June 2009. I had an internship the summer of 2008, worked as a Patient Care Tech from August until February, and started as an RN in February. So I am pretty familiar with the facility.

The orthopedic floor that I work on ( 2 west) has 31 beds. We mainly deal with new hips, knees, and back surgerys. We also get a lot of medical overflow patients when the rest of the hospital is too full to handle them.

Our floor is usually very busy. I work 3 12-hour shifts a week, working both overnights and day shifts. I work every third weekend and every third holiday. I enjoy my nursing career, but there are definitely some days that are better than others.

So anyway, there is a short description of my job and the hospital I work at. It keeps me very busy. Thanks for reading!

Corn Maze

2010-10-16T08:37:00.003-05:00

Yep, it's official, fall is definitely my favorite season. Last night John and I decided on a whim to go to the corn maze in Harrisburg, South Dakota. I have never actually been to a corn maze before. I grew up on a farm, so my parents always had to worry about harvesting the crops, and never had the time to take me to things like this in the fall.

So John and I decided it sounded like a fun time. So we headed to Harrisburg for the Heartland Country Corn Maze. Harrisburg is located about 5 miles south of Sioux Falls. The maze this year was in the shape of a T-Rex. The goal of the maze is to find the 10 checkpoints which contain answers to questions on the sheets we receive at the gate. There is also a "secret" checkpoint that is not on the map, and if you find it you get a free concession treat.

John and I grabbed our flashlights and we got to the corn maze at about 7:30 pm. We paid our entrance fee, got our map, and our game cards. John mostly navigated and I lead the way and we did a wonderful job. It took us about an hour to complete the entire maze. We didn't find the secret checkpoint, but the lady in charge told us it was located on a random dead end. Since we were such good map readers, we never came across it, and we didn't feel it was worth the effort to search every dead end in the maze.

We had a really good time. It was especially fun in the dark. The only downside was the high school kids running through the corn acting like idiots. For my first corn maze, I had a blast. Next up I am asking John to take me to an Apple Orchard and perhaps a pumpkin patch so we can carve some pumpkins. Thanks for Reading!

Postseason Baseball

2010-10-06T18:54:00.002-05:00

I may have mentioned this before, but I am a huge twins fan. I usually go to 1 or 2 games every summer, and have them on in the background when I am at home, and keep track of how they are doing by visiting their website or watching Sportscenter. So, to sum up I like to follow the twins and see how they are doing.

I was very excited to see the twins clinch the central division so early in September. I was even more excited when they were contending to have the best record in the American League and have a chance for home field advantage for the playoffs. However, they did not play well the last two weeks of the regular season and that chance dwindled. Then, I learned that they will face the Yankees, again, in the postseason.

Due to history, I am a little worried about the Twins facing the Yankees. The Yankees have pounded the Twins in the past, both in the regular season and the postseason. This is not to say that I don't believe the Twins can win, I am just realistic and I know how hard it is going to be to beat the Yankees.

Tonight is the first game of the 5 game series. I am wearing my Twins Jersey and hoping for the best when the game starts at 7:30 pm. I know the Twins have the ability to beat the Yankees, they just need to prove it.

I love postseason baseball, and I hope to see the Twins come up with three wins against the Yankees. Go Twinkies!!!

Sioux Falls Bike Trail

2010-09-30T17:12:00.002-05:00

John and I take frequent walks together . It is a good way to get some exercise and spend some time outdoors with each other talking about our day. John also does some jogging and I enjoy riding bike and rollerblading once in a while. Luckily John and I live right next to the bike trail in Sioux Falls.

We live close to Tomar Park which is right next to the city's wonderful bike path. The bike trail is paved, runs along side the Big Sioux River, and has wonderful scenery along the way. The bike path makes a complete circle around the city of Sioux Falls, and is about 30 miles long.
We pretty much use this bike path daily for our exercise needs (except when winter comes...)

We both need to purchase bikes as well. John does not have one at all, and I have the very first huffy ten speed bike I have ever owned. So needless to say, we are not up to a 30 mile bike ride in our current situation. We plan to shop around and buy some quality bikes and then our goal is to make the complete loop. The bike trail goes to Falls Park, which is a popular park in town that has a waterfall (hello...we are called Sioux Falls!!!!)

So anyway, we are enjoying the luxury of being so close to the bike trail. We even live close to the city's only dog park, where city pet owners can take their dogs to this park and let them run freely. It may sound crazy, but the park is always busy!

John and I have walked many miles on this bike trail, and we plan to continue. If you live in Sioux Falls, and you haven't explored the bike trail, I suggest you do. It is wonderful exercise and a great way to spend these beautiful fall days. Thanks for reading, now go outside and do some walking!

Omaha

2010-09-30T16:36:00.007-05:00

So, this last weekend John and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Omaha. I had never been to Omaha and John hadn't been there in quite a few years. So we drove the 2.5 hours south on Interstate 29 to the beautiful city of Omaha. We left about 12:30pm on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.

Since I am the better city driver and John is a much better navigator, I drove and John navigated. My first impression of Omaha was "This city is huge" and my second was "This interstate is insane". The interstate was the type of road that splits off and suddenly you are on another interstate going a different direction. Needless to say John and I tried to stick to city streets and avoid the treacherous interstate.

We navigated ourselves to downtown Omaha by around 4:00 pm on Saturday. We really didn't have an agenda and decided to wander around until we found something. Omaha's downtown is called "Old Market" and has brick roads and wonderful shops and restaurants. They offer have horse carriage rides and live music on street corners.

John and I wandered around the Old Market and found a beautiful park to explore. There was a body of water with a path that went all the way around with streams and flowers along the way. We also stopped to see the Missouri River, which flows through the city. Once we were done in the park, we explored downtown some more and ate at a wonderful brewery called the Upstream Brewery with Omaha steaks. It was wonderful.

For those of you who don't know much about Omaha, it is the nation's 40th largest city with a population of about 454, 000 people (so about three times as big as Sioux Falls). I realize it's no New York City, but it's pretty large compared to what I am used to.

Omaha is well known for the Henry Doorly Zoo. The zoo is over 130 acres and features the largest cat complex in North America, "Kingdoms of Night" is the world's largest nocturnal exhibit and indoor swamp, the Lied Jungle is one of the world's largest indoor rainforests, and the "Desert Dome" is the world's largest indoor desert (Wikipedia). To say the least, the zoo was awesome. We spent 6 hours at the zoo, and could have easily spent more time there, but we wanted to get back to Sioux Falls at a decent time.

John and I had a great couple of days in Omaha. We discovered a wonderful city that is located pretty close to us. We plan to go back and explore more the next chance we get. My advice, go visit Omaha if you haven't yet, it is a beautiful city with plenty to do. Thanks for reading!

The Black Hills

2010-09-23T16:09:00.008-05:00

This past Labor Day weekend my husband, John, and I joined my family for a trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. The main reason for the 7 hour drive to the hills was for my cousin, Tony's Wedding on Sylvan Lake. Since my family had not been to the hills for about 11 years, we thought it was a great opportunity to make a family vacation out of the trip.

Since my parents live in Minnesota, they came to Sioux Falls on Thursday, in order to get three hours of driving out of the way and to spend some time hanging out at our new apartment. It was nice to hang out with my family and show them around the city of Sioux Falls. In the evening we grilled out at our apartment and finished up some packing for the weekend.

We took two vehicles to the hills as we had seven people to fit along. Before we had even left Sioux Falls, we had already lost the other vehicle as they took the wrong exit off the interstate. It is hard to remember that my family does not do a lot of interstate driving, so they struggled for some of the trip. I forgot how long and boring the trip to the Black Hills is. We filled up the driving time with music and conversation, and still it seemed to take forever.

We stopped at Wall Drug along the way, which is basically the biggest tourist trap in the world, but it was a good place to at least stretch the legs. We made it into Custer at around 8:00 Mountain Time, and we were exhausted. We stopped and ate and then headed to bed. John's uncle was nice enough to let us use his cabin so all of us kids stayed at the cabin and the parents stayed at a hotel.

The first day in Custer we went through Custer State Park to see all the animals and we also drove on Needles Highway which has some beautiful scenery.
Later that day was Tony and Elizabeth's Wedding. It was an absolutely beautiful day and a very nice ceremony. Congrats to the newlyweds!

On Sunday we shopped around at some tourist shops and everyone bought their Black Hills apparel that they desired. Then we went to Jewel Cave which was pretty cool (literally and figuratively). Last but not least we went to Mount Rushmore. I have seen Mount Rushmore three times, and I think everytime is just as special as the last. It is just an amazing piece of history and I love seeing it. We walked the President's trail and stayed to watch the lighting ceremony. I think we were all a little bummed that we did not have more time at Mount Rushmore.

I had a great time on this family vacation, and I look forward to another. There has already been talk about Duluth, Chicago, or even possibly Washington D.C.! As always, Thanks for reading!

The Wedding Reception

2010-09-14T17:49:00.007-05:00

The wedding reception was a blast. The first thing John and I did when we got to Jackpot was check into our honeymoon suite. Then the wedding party and ourselves entered the reception hall as we were introduced by John's dad. It was an awesome feeling to be introduced as Mr. & Mrs. John Nelson for the first time.

The reception hall was beautiful. I had Grapevine Rentals decorate for me and I bought some green and purple candles to go on the tables. We also had centerpieces made out of grapes, apples, and plums. They looked very beautiful and people could snack on them while they waited for us to get to the reception.
Once we were all seated at the head table, we got to eat. We had a strawberry salad, pork loin, mashed potatoes and gravy, and california blend vegetables. It was very good. I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't even eat very much of my food. Once the head table was done eating, John and I talked to our guests about how happy we were that everyone could make it. The fathers also got up and talked and thanked everyone. We also wished my parents a happy 28th anniversary.

Next, we decided to cut the cake while everyone else was finishing their food. Of course as soon as we cut our pieces, we smashed the pieces of cake into each others faces. We didn't even try to nicely feed them to each other, we went for the cake fight immediately. The best man and maid of honor gave excellent speeches and then we had the first dances. Following that the band played and the beer flowed. The dance was amazing. I was on the dance floor for about 90% of the night and had a blast.

The dance ended at about 12:30 am and I was exhausted by this time of the night. It was sad to see the end of my wedding day, but I had an awesome day and it was nice to not have to worry about planning a wedding and hoping that everything went well. So, there it is. My wedding day. The day I will tell my kids and grandkids about. I had so much fun that day, and now I am ready to spend the rest of my life with my husband. Thanks for reading!

My Wedding Day Part II

2010-09-14T10:00:00.010-05:00

The ceremony part of my wedding day was pretty short and sweet. However, it was the source of my nervousness for the day. We had about a half an hour to sit in the basement of the church and wait for the ceremony to start.

I was sitting in a folding chair chatting with everyone else, when all of a sudden I got really nervous. I started thinking about the big picture and how big of a moment was coming up in my life. My sister started to shout wipe some of the stains on my train from the outdoor pictures, and I sat there with sweaty palms, trying to take big deep breaths.

At about 5 minutes before 4:00 the wedding party and I (minus John because he was already in front with Pastor) started walking up the stairs for the ceremony. I was still pretty nervous at this point, thinking about walking down the isle with everyone staring at me. My dad met me in the entry way of the church with tears in his eyes, and that almost made me lose it.

Cannon in D started playing and the wedding couples started to make their decent down the isle. My dad gave me his arm, and we waited until everyone stood and then we made our slow walk down the isle. My nervousness left me as soon as I saw my groom at the other end of the isle. It was a powerful moment, and all I saw was him.

When my dad and I got to the end of the isle, John came down to meet us and my dad broke down. Tears sprung into my eyes again as I thought about my dad giving me away to John. Once the ceremony started, I remembered how warm it was in church. Of course our non air-conditioned church made for a very warm ceremony. I don't remember listening to Pastor very much. I was focused on looking at my future-husband and absorbing the moment.
After the ceremony, we had a receiving line to talk to everyone who attended the wedding. It was nice to see everyone that was there and get their congratulations and hugs after we were married. Once the receiving line was done, John and I headed back into the church to come out as a married couple and have our friends and family cheer for us and blow bubbles at us. We got into John's decorated car and headed to Fairfax to hit up the Frontier Bar and Lounge. Let's face it, church was hot and we were all ready for a beer or two.

After the bar stop we headed to the reception at Jackpot Junction. The 20 minute car ride was a nice time to have some alone time with my new husband and get to talk to him about how we were feeling and what kind of day we were having. We both were relieved that all we had to worry about now was the food and dancing. We were very excited for the second part of the night. Next blog: The Wedding Reception. Thanks for reading about the most important day of my life!

My Wedding Day Part I

2010-09-09T11:43:00.011-05:00

I can't really describe how I felt on my wedding day. I think I probably went through every emotion possible. I woke up at about 7:30 am to prepare for the day. I went through the list of items I would need for the day about a hundred times, paranoid about forgetting something. At about 8:00 my sister and I left for Gibbon to get our hair done along with the rest of the bridesmaids. We went to The Hair Base to get our hair styled. This was probably the most relaxing part of my day. We had a good time chatting about the day and getting our hair styled.

Once we all had our hair styled, we headed back to my house to get ready while the boys got ready in the basement of the church. My bridesmaids and I put our makeup on in front of the various mirrors in my parent's house. Then came time for the bridesmaids to get into their dresses. At this point I was still doing pretty well and was focusing on getting ready and helping the bridesmaids. Then it came time for me to get ready.

We were supposed to get to the church by noon, and at about quarter to noon one of the photographers called and wanted to come to the house to get pictures of us getting ready. I am a person that likes to stay on schedule, so waiting for the photographer was hard for me to do. Also, I was waiting to finally get into my dress, and it was killing me to wait.

Finally I got into my dress, and it was a wonderful feeling. We headed to our cars and drove to the church. I hurried to get upstairs before John could see me so we could do the traditional "first time we get to see each other" moment. However, I was busy taking pictures with my bridesmaids and all of a sudden John came up the stairs. We never got our special moment, but we survived. It's just one of those things where not everything always goes the way you want it to go. Anyway, my groom looked very handsome and it was still a special moment to me.

Next came about a million pictures. The outdoor pictures were a ton of fun, but by the time we started on the traditional indoor pictures, I was getting a little tired of smiling. But overall, I had a blast taking pictures. It's the one time where a photo shoot is centered completely on me and my day.

This is pretty much my wedding day from 7:30am to about 3:15 in the afternoon. I did not get nervous at all during this part of the day. I had a blast taking pictures with John outside. I am very excited to get the professional pictures back and see how they all turned out. It was fun to share this day with my closest friends and family. I will blog about the ceremony in my next blog. Thanks for reading!

Groomsmen Supper

2010-08-29T18:41:00.006-05:00

On Friday August 13, 2010 we had our groomsmen supper. We decided to skip the restaurant scene and we opted for a grill out at my parent's farm. I wanted to do the grill out for several reasons. First of all, it is much more casual. Everyone can bring a lawn chair and a few beers and socialize while they wait for the food to be done cooking over the wood.

Another reason I liked the idea of having a grillout is that everyone is able to mingle and socialize. We had bean bags and the golf game for entertainment. Later we had a campfire. I also liked that it is a lot less expensive to have people out on the farm as opposed to eating at a restaurant.

I had a blast at the groomsmen supper. It was a nice feeling having all those people from different times in my life out at the farm at the same time. Everyone visited with each other and seemed to have a good time. I played some bean bags, presented my wedding party with their gifts, and enjoyed some wonderful food.

The only down side to having a grillout is that you cannot regulate how long people stay. Luckily for us, everyone was pretty reasonable with how long they stayed. Everyone, except for about 8 people, left before it even got dark out.

Once it was dark, the remaining guests sat around the fire and reminisced about the good old days. The people that stayed later were friends from college and we talked about our college days. It made me realize just how much I miss my friends. It's easy to forget how much people mean to you when you haven't seen them in a while, but when you spend two solid days with them on the most important days of your life, you start to remember why these people were your friends in the first place.

Overall, I had a great time at the groomsmen supper. I got to talk to everyone, and enjoy a nice, relaxing evening before my wedding day. Looking back, I probably should have went to bed earlier than 12:30 am, but I couldn't pull myself away from all the college memories. Following this post I have some photos from the groomsmen supper. My next blog will be my wedding day blog, I am very excited for that one. As always, thanks for reading!

The days before the wedding

2010-08-25T16:57:00.010-05:00

Well, I am a married woman. I don't think it had fully sunk in yet, and I have been married 11 days already!!!

First of all, I couldn't be happier. I married my best friend, my other half, my support system, and the love of my life. It amazes me that I have only known John for 41/2 years because it seems like he has been in my life forever.

I am very happy to be done planning a wedding. For those of you still planning a wedding, enjoy it, because it is a fun process. But I am not going to miss calling vendors and worrying about all the details.

I held up very well the week of my wedding. The most stressful part was the couple of days before the wedding when my mom, my future husband, and I were trying to finish up last minute tasks and get decorations done. The Thursday before my wedding was the day where we really got things done. We decorated the church, got our supplies to the people decorating the reception hall, and we pretty much had everything finished by Thursday evening.

Friday was my day to relax. My bridesmaids and I went to New Ulm, Minnesota for manicures and pedicures. And of course to sip champagne while being pampered. I really enjoyed this treatment and I think everyone else had a good time with it as well.
Later on Friday we had to head to the church for the rehearsal at the church. Needless to say, it was a little warm in the old country church with no air conditioning. However, it was exciting as it was a preview of what was going to happen the next day. We ran through the ceremony twice so everyone could practice walking up and down the isle and so that my future husband and I knew what to do the next day. We were in the church for about an hour and half running through the ceremony. Here are some pictures of the rehearsal.

So the setting up and the rehearsal went very well. After the rehearsal we had a groomsmen supper grill out on my parent's farm. I am dedicating my next blog to the groomsmen supper and how that went. And of course I will have a wedding day blog coming up as well. So stay tuned. Thanks for reading!!

4 Best Movies I've seen this summer

2010-07-19T17:01:00.005-05:00

I am not much of a movie buff, but I do like to watch them and I like to think I have a pretty trustworthy opinion about them. I don't watch a ton of movies in the summer, but I do occasionally go to a theatre and I have Netflix, so I do get my share of movies in.

I decided to share with you the top 4 movies I have watched this summer.

#4. Shutter Island. This is a movie that makes you think and requires you to watch it at least twice to catch everything that is happening. It is not a scary movie, even though previews make it seems that way. It is a thriller and is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Plus, it's always a bonus to get to look at Leo for two hours.

#3. The Soloist. I just netflixed this movie and I have to say it was pretty good. It is based on a true story and the acting is very good in this movie. It gets kinda long at some parts, but overall I enjoyed the movie and I liked the story line.

#2. The Blind Side. Another movie based on reality. I really like this movie. I like Sandra Bullock and she did an excellent job in this movie. If you have not seen this movie yet, I highly recommend it. It is very touching.

#1. Toy Story 3. This movie was cute, funny, sad, and serious. It had adventure and caused tears. If you liked the first two, you will love the third one. It is a movie for all ages.

This is just my take on a few movies I have recently watched. I know I am always looking for a good movie and I like to know what other people recommend. Hope this helps.

Thanks for reading

Sioux Falls Adventures

2010-07-15T10:16:00.003-05:00

My sister is four years older than me, talkative, lives in Mankato, and works as a nurse at Immanuel St. Josephs Hospital. We are so alike and different that it is crazy. For instance, we did not grow up very close because of the age gap and difference in interests. I have always been into sports, pretty low maintenance, and I had a closer bond with my brother who is three years younger than me. Now that we are adults we have a little more in common. For starters, we are both Registered Nurses that work on an Orthopedic Floor in a Hospital, so we always have plenty to talk about. We both like to vent about things about life, our family, our jobs or whatever is bothering us on that particular day. It took us until we were in our 20's to actually act like sisters.

So, about every 3-4 months my sister makes the 2.5 hour drive from Mankato to Sioux Falls to come visit me and some of her friends that live in Sioux Falls. She came and visited this last Tuesday and Wednesday (another perk of being a nurse is being able to get together during the week). I like when she comes and visits because it gives me an excuse to do weekend things during the week, such as eating out and of course, shopping!

The first thing we did was go to Last Stop CD shop because my sister owns about a million books and DVDs and she went though her collection and wanted to sell and then buy more items. We probably spend about an hour and a half going through that store. We also went to David's Bridal and finally picked up that last two bridesmaid dresses. I was getting a little worried since the wedding is 30 days away! We wrapped up our day by going to Shrek 4 and the cheap movie theatre.

Wednesday was also a good day. I started the day by putting on my wedding dress just to make sure it was still fitting and I needed to teach my maid of honor how to bussle the dress in the back. Then we spent the day shopping at the mall, Barnes and Noble, and some Uniform Shops. Overall it was a good couple of days of hanging out with my sister and finishing up some wedding items and spending too much money. Someday, I will have to make the journey to Mankato and spend a couple days there.

Reading

2010-06-08T19:12:00.004-05:00

I love to read. I like to read the newspaper to keep up with what is going on in the world. However, I especially love to read for pleasure. There's nothing better than getting lost in a book on a lazy afternoon. If you do not currently read, I suggest you start. Reading stretches the imagination, keeps your mind sharp, and expands your vocabulary. Let's just say that reading gives your brain more of a workout than endless hours of watching television.

Since I love to read, I have favorite authors of course. First and foremost, I love James Patterson books. I have read 95% of his books (and he has written many books) and I own almost as many. His books are about crime and mystery, and they are very fast paced. They also have short chapters, so they are wonderful books to read for 15 minutes before going to bed. However, I typically get so swept away by James Patterson books that it only takes me a couple days to get them finished.I also really enjoy books by Nicholas Sparks. Nicholas Sparks books are books I like to read when I want to read something romantic or sappy. His books usually make me cry, so I have to be in a certain mood to truly enjoy his books. However, he is an excellent author.

When I feel like racking my brain cells, I like to read Dan Brown books. Brown is a great author, but his books can be difficult to follow and they require a lot of focus. These are not the type of books to read if you are wanting to relax and get lost in a fun, happy book. However, if you like complex books that really make you think, Dan Brown is the author for you. I am anxiously awaiting The Lost Symbol to come out in paperback to read Brown's latest work.

I have a couple other authors that I read from time to time. However the three listed above comprise most of my personal library. I am always looking for new authors and different types of books to get into as well. I don't know how I first got into reading, but both my mom and my sister read as well and we do a lot of swapping of books between the three of us. I like getting lost in a different world for a few hours and being able to imagine these characters and their world.

Anyway, here is my ranting on my hobby of reading and the authors that I enjoy. Like I said before, if you don't currently read, give it a shot. Whether it is a book, or the newspaper, or someone's blog, read something. Although, now thinking about it, if you are reading this blog you probably already understand the benefits of reading and giving that brain a workout. Thanks for reading, and please continue to do so!!!!

Summer days

2010-05-30T21:03:00.003-05:00

There's nothing better than summer. Don't get me wrong, I like each season for its own reason, but summer is the best. I love the long days, where it stays light out until 9:30-10:00. I love being able to have my windows open and let the fresh breeze blow in. Most of all, I love all the activities that a person can do outdoors during the summer. I like the fishing, camping, boating, hiking, campfires, swimming, and the awesome tan I get during the summer.

I also love baseball and I follow the Minnesota Twins like it's my job. So my love of summer and baseball has me very excited for outdoor baseball in Minnesota. I am very excited to experience outdoor baseball in Minnesota.

This summer also has me very excited for my wedding coming up in just over two months. The invitations are sent and the RSVPs are piling in. This is making the wedding very real and I cannot wait to get married.

Overall, I love summer and all that it brings. The only bad thing about summer is that it doesn't seem to last as long as the cold, dreary winter. However, I do enjoy it, however brief it may be. Thanks for reading.

Reflection

2010-05-10T14:17:00.003-05:00

So, another birthday has come and gone. I am now 23 years old. Aging another year has caused me to reflect on this past year and where I am in my life.

Since my last birthday, I have gotten engaged to my best friend, my other half, the person I cannot live without. We received the blessing from our friends and family and we have planned our wedding. As we are the first wedding in both of our families, John and I have done basically all of the planning on our own. We have researched and asked friends about planning a wedding, and we have taken the initiative to plan ourselves a wonderful, memorable wedding.

I moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and completed an internship at Avera McKennan Hospital. I applied myself and learned a lot about nursing and the working world. I also spent the summer going to a Twins game, camping with my family, and hanging out with my fiance. I also started working at Hy-Vee part-time and really enjoyed meeting new people at my job,

In the fall I started my last semester of school. I worked part-time as a Patient Care Tech at Avera and as a checker at Hy-Vee as my source of money through school.

In December I graduated from college with my degree in Nursing. I spent the next month studying and I passed the NCLEX in February. On February 16, I started my nursing career at Avera McKennan. I completed my eight weeks of orientation and now I am all on my own doing the nursing thing.

All in all, 22 treated pretty well. I have had some major life events happen in the past year, and I am very satisfied with where I am at right now. Looking ahead, I am very excited about being 23 and the next round of firsts I get to experience. I already know I will experience a wedding, being a wife, living with my husband, a trip to the Hills, a honeymoon, and many other exciting things that I don't even know about yet. Sure, no one's life is perfect, and there are always ups and downs, but this last year has been amazing and I look forward to all the new opportunities in the future. Thanks for reading!!

Minnesota Twins

2010-05-10T14:08:00.002-05:00

Being a Minnesotan, I have always been a Minnesota Twins fan. However, I did not follow baseball too closely until I was in high school. Since I was 15 years old, I have attended a couple of twins games every summer and I follow them pretty religiously.

Summer is not summer to me without some baseball. I am very excited because my fiance and I have tickets to go to Target Field in July. I have heard wonderful things about the new Twins' stadium and I am thrilled to see how it looks and experience outdoor baseball.

I know there are some skeptics out there about outdoor baseball in Minnesota, but I would take the freezing rain and blustery wind over the dreary teflon roof in the Metrodome any day. The Metrodome is the only stadium I have watched the Twins play in, and I can only say one thing...I will not miss it!!! So my advice to you, my readers, is to go to Target Field and catch a Twins game, there's nothing better!

Becoming a Nurse

2010-04-21T16:42:00.002-05:00

Well, my 8 weeks of orientation are officially over and I am on my own. It is scary and exciting at the same time. I am conflicted on how to feel about this new independence. There are some patients that I know exactly what I am doing and why I am doing it, and then there are some patients that ask a lot of questions that I cannot necessarily answer or they have a complication that needs attention and I feel like I still need help.

Two nights ago, I experienced my first code-blue on the floor. My hands were shaking, my heart was beating about 140 beats/minute, and my fear was clouding my thoughts. I handled everything the best that I could. We called the code blue, got the crash cart, and starting working on the patient. This is a perfect example of a situation in which I am not ready to face on my own. The patient ended up not making it, and so we also had to console the spouse and make arrangements with the body. This was a new experience for me, and one I was not necessarily ready for.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to having the independence to take care of my patient when and how I want to (according to all ethical and legal rules). I have gone through 2 years of nursing school looking forward to this moment. I know nursing can be very tough and draining, and stressful, but there are also many rewarding experiences to being a nurse.

I have a long ways to go before I am a confident and competent nurse. However through time and experience I will become a great nurse, one shift at a time.

New Apartment

2010-04-17T15:51:00.002-05:00

So, I am officially moving....about one block. I am moving into a two-bedroom apartment in the same apartment complex. I am pretty excited for the move, the new apartment has a bath and a half, a nice big living room and kitchen, and a door going to the backyard for a grill. The rent is very affordable and it comes with a garage. And best of all, my fiance will move in after we are married, which I am very excited about.

However, I have forgotten how much work moving is. I think about calling my electric and internet companies to tell them my new address and have to have new installations and expenses. And then there is the work of moving all of my belongings, which can be exhausting. However, the weather is beautiful this time of year and I have two full weeks to get my belongings moved, meaning that I can take my time and move slowly. Hopefully this prevents me from getting stressed out over the move.

All in all, I am very excited to move into this new apartment and begin the next chapter in my life. Hello bigger apartment!

Wedding Plans

2010-04-13T19:25:00.002-05:00

So, I have gotten a lot of wedding planning done in the past week. My sister came to visit me and we went and ordered her bridesmaid dress. Then we did some heavy duty shopping in Sioux Falls and I got my bridesmaids' gifts, paid for and picked up my invitations, and picked out the jewlery for my bridesmaids.

Today I had my dress fitting for the wedding. You can basically spend as much or as little as you want on these fittings. Luckily my dress fits me pretty well, so all I needed done was to have my halter straps tightened and of course I needed my dress hemmed since I am a whopping 5'5". Then we worked on the bussle of the dress, and I just went with a basic up and over bussle. So $180 later we were all finished up. I have a final fitting at the end of May, and then me and my dress are officially ready for the wedding.

I also talked to a person who bakes wedding cakes today and I am meeting with her in May to discuss cake options and what we want to have done. It is four months until my wedding and everything is falling into place nicely. Don't get me wrong though, there is still a lot left to do.

We still have to work on getting tuxes picked out, work on our wedding program, pick out my fiance's ring, get our marriage license, and work on our marriage counseling packet before our next counseling session. So, there is still plenty left to do. And of course, plan the rehersal dinner, decorations, etc, etc. I don't know if one is ever done planning a wedding to be honest. However, slowly and surely I am getting both the big and small things done. I am very excited for August 14, 2010, but I think I will breathe a little sigh of relief when that day is over as well.

Once again, Thanks for reading!

Wedding Shower

2010-04-12T11:50:00.005-05:00

So, I just had my very first wedding shower on Saturday morning. Some of the ladies from my fiance's church wanted to put a wedding shower on for me, which was very nice of them. So, I got all dolled up and prepared myself for a shower.

I was a little bit nervous for this shower because I did not know many of the ladies there. My mother, two aunts, grandma, and cousin made the three hour drive from Minnesota, and I was very grateful to them for that. Including these members of my family I probably knew 15 of the 30 people at the shower. However, everyone was very nice and very welcoming.

We started the shower at 10:00am and began by talking a little bit about where I grew up, my hobbies, my current job, to let people get to know me a little bit better. We then ate some coffee cake and fruit that was delicious. Then, I got to open my presents.

I don't really like having everyone watch me open presents, I am not a fan of fake enthusiasm. But it went very well. I opened presents, mom wrote what the person gave me in the card, and then we passed the presents around in a big circle for everyone to look at. People were so busy looking at all the gifts that it took the pressure off of me.

After the gifts were opened I stood up and told everyone thank you for the shower and for the gifts. I received a lot of very nice items that are currently stored in my garage. I only had to take 3 items back, all because they were doubled up on. And I have no problem taking items back and getting store credit and Target, I can definetly put those gift cards to good use.

I have even written all my thank-yous already. Last night, while watching the third season of lost, I wrote 40 thank-you cards. I wrote and wrote until my hand was ready to fall off. One thing that was a very good idea, is I brought the thank you envelopes to the shower and had the guest self-address the thank yous to themselves so I would not have to look up all those addresses. That saved me a lot of time and hassle!!!!

So, the shower was a blast! And I am lucky enough to have a second shower coming up in May. Not every bride can say that she got two showers for her wedding. I am looking forward to this shower a little more just because I will know everyone there and it is taking place at my church back home. It will be with familiar people in a familiar setting. This wedding shower was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to my shower in May.

Thanks for reading!

Planning a wedding

2010-03-21T13:39:00.003-05:00

Planning a wedding is hard work. You have to find something old, something new, something borrowed, and yes, something blue. You have to decide who should be in your wedding and who didn't quite make the cut. You have to decide what colors, what kind of cake, how the programs should look, who to invite, where to have the reception. There is a lot to remember!

I am five months away from my wedding. The save-the-date cards are sent. The wedding dress is purchased and hanging in my closet. The wedding invitations are picked out and ready to be ordered. The photographer, reception site, organist, band, and church are booked. My future mother-in-law is helping me with my flowers. I am currently talking with a baker about my cake options and we have looked at rings for my fiance.

Sometimes I feel like I am on top of my game and that I am right where I should be with the planning process. Other days I feel completely overwhelmed. There are just so many things to think about. Programs, toasting flutes. decorations, dress fittings, hair appointments, party favors, rehersal dinner, menu items, playlists, etc. etc.

I am the first child in my family to get married, so it makes it especially hard to know what I am supposed to be doing. I am very excited to be married, but the planning process for the ceremony and reception is ridiculous. It is stressful and overwhelming. I try to take it day by day and gradually get things done so that hopefully 5 months from now I will be ready to walk down the isle and begin my future.

Word of advice to those who are engaged, start planning early and take it day by day. And allow your fiance and family to help, it is too big of a burden for one person to handle alone.

Thanks for reading!

NCLEX

2010-03-03T21:27:00.003-06:00

So, I don't know how many people know about the NCLEX. It is the National Council Licensure Exam. This exam is the biggest exam in a nursing student's life. Once a nursing student graduates from college she must pass this exam in order to become a Registered Nurse.

I was not looking forward to this exam. I graduated on December 12, 2009, which was a wonderful feeling after 4.5 years of college. However, unlike most college graduates, I still had to spend my days preparing and studying to pass an exam before I could begin my career.

I spent almost two months studying NCLEX review books and rummaging through my nursing notes. I took a review course and spent every available minute preparing for the biggest exam in my life. It was basically all I thought about or talked about for two straight months. All I have ever heard about this exam ia negative things and how hard it is, so of course I drove myself crazy preparing. I am also a sort of negative person, not in a bad way, but I'm not one to look at the bright side of things. I was convinced that I would fail this exam and never be able to practice medicine. These were probably the worst two months of my life.

This exam is cruel. I went to the testing center, had to be photographed, fingerprinted, palm printed, show ID, and basically strip searched to enter this room. I couldn't even bring chapstick inside. The exam is on the computer and each one of us was inside our own little cubicle to take the exam. By the time I sat down to take the exam my hands were shaking and my palms were sweating. I starting answering questions which calmed me down a little. With this exam, you get a minimum of 75 questions and a maximum of 265. The computer shuts off when you have either passed by a good margin or failed. I was finished with my exam an hour into the exam when my computer shut off at 75 questions. This was not a good feeling.

Now all I had to do was wait. It takes two days to find out if you have passed the exam, and all I had to do was wait and find out what my future had in store for me. After frantically checking online every twenty minutes for two days, I finally discovered I had passed. There really isn't a way to describe how I felt seeing my name with an RN license number behind it. Absolute joy.
So for any future victims of the NCLEX, the only advice I can offer is prepare and hope for the best! Thanks for reading!!

Catching up

2010-03-02T13:02:00.002-06:00

Wow, so it has been over eight months since I last blogged. I don't know why, but somehow time has gotten away from me. I will catch you up on what has happened to me these last eight months.

Last summer I spend a fair amount of time planning my wedding and working at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls at an internship. I also attended my annual Minnesota Twins baseball game and spent a few weekends camping with my family. It was a nice summer, and like any other summer it was over much too quickly.

I just finished my last semester of college at SDSU in December. I graduated with a degree in Nursing. After 18.5 years of school, it is a strange feeling to no longer be in school and have to study. I am finding it difficult to keep myself busy as so much of time used to be consumed by school and studying. I am used to saying "I have to study" or "I am a poor college student" and now neither phrase applies to my life. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to be done with school. No more homework, no more studying, and no more expensive tuition. However, being in the real world can be a little intimidating in that now I have to think about things such as health insurance, life insurance, a 401K, figuring out if we can afford a house, and marriage.

Being an adult is wonderful in many ways, and also a lot of work. Sometimes I think being a college lifer would be the way to go. Once you graduate college, there are no more spring breaks, no more christmas vacation, and the social networking shrinks down a little. So all of you who are still in school, enjoy it because time flies by and before you know it you will be in this place called the "real world".

Even though there are things about college I am going to miss, I am very excited about my new job! I was lucky enough to have a job lined up for me at Avera McKennan before I even graduated. I work on the Orthopedic Floor and I am currently on week two of my eight week orientation. I am learning a lot, feeling overwhelmed, and really enjoying my new job.

This pretty much brings me up to today. I am working at my new job and planning my wedding and showers and all that goes along with the process. My wedding is 5 months away, and will be here before I know it! So life is going pretty well right now. Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, hopefully I can get back on track. Thanks for reading.

Moments

2009-06-25T14:16:00.005-05:00

Have you ever had a moment that changed your life? A moment that took your breath away? Or maybe possibly experienced a moment that you didn't think would happen to you? Well, I have recently experienced all three, and it was wonderful.

A little over a month ago (May 20th to be exact) my boyfriend, John, of 3.5 years proposed to me. It was one of those moments that almost seemed surreal and that it was not actually happening. My fiancee (I am still not used to using that word!) has recently posted a very accurate account of how he proposed to me. If you are interested in reading, I have a link to John's Blog on my home page. His blog is titled "On the steps of the campanile".

This blog isn't meant to repeat the events that happened on the evening of my proposal, but rather to explore the emotions I was feeling. First of all, I remember being in a good mood. I had just worked my last shift at Subway and John had suggested a walk. We frequently went on walks in the evenings as there really is not a whole lot to do in Brookings, SD. I remember being really happy, and just being a goofball on our walk. John did not look or act nervous in any way at all. So really, it was a relaxing walk and I had no suspicions at all that anything was going on.

When we reached the campanile toward the middle of our walk, I remember actually sitting on the south steps of the campanile and talking to John about something. I can only imagine what was running through John's mind when we sat there talking as he knew what was waiting on the other side of the campanile. I was still completely oblivious to anything going on. He finally suggested we continue on our walk, and took me past the east stairs of the campanile.

I didn't notice anything at first, because who expects there to be writing on the campanile stairs when out for a random walk? I sure didn't. I think John had to actually point it out to me. I remember having to read the words a couple times to let them sink in, Stacy, Will you marry me? Love John. He had written the words in sidewalk chalk just a half hour before I stood there reading them. I was stunned into silence and slowly turned around, and there John was down on one knee with a ring in his hand. I honestly didn't know what to do, and a thousand thoughts were running through my mind. Wow, I am so surprised! Is this really happening? How can he afford that ring? Why am I not crying? Should I cry? I love him. All of a sudden I am nervous! Am I supposed to say "Yes" or is he going to actually ask first? Why am I not crying, maybe I am too shocked to cry. Oh boy, this is really happening!

As it turned out I did not cry. I got misty-eyed and was touched to the bottom of my soul, but no tears found their way out. I think it felt so right and I was incredibly happy and comfortable, I didn't need to shed the tears to show my emotions. John did verbally ask me to marry him and I did say "Yes!" It was only after I answered that I first noticed John's nerves a little bit. He tried putting the ring on my right hand, and I had to remind him that it's supposed to go on my left. This kinda broke the ice again as we were able to laugh a little and then fully realize what just happened.

So there it is. I am engaged! I am still in awe. However, it is also very exciting and I am ready to spend the rest of my life with this man that I call my best friend and the love of my life! In my 22 years, this is the moment that has taken my breath away and changed my life!

Customer Etiquette

2009-05-19T12:04:00.003-05:00

So, I work at a fast-food sandwich shop (for safety purposes I won't say which one) but anyway I have been working there for about 2 years now. I really enjoy my job actually, mainly because it is the perfect part-time job because it is pretty simple, I like my co-workers, and I make a decent amount of money for the work involved. However, I am shocked every time customers do not know how to act appropriately in the restaurant. So today I am writing my top-top pet peeves that customers do while I am working. Please refrain from doing these things at any restaurant and please give all workers your respect.

Top Ten Things Customers Do That Annoy Me

1. CELL PHONES! I absolutely hate it when a customer comes in to order a sandwich and they are talking on their cell phone. Seriously, can you not disengage yourself from technology for the 5 minutes it takes to get a sandwich. There is nothing more rude than talking to a person on a cell phone and expecting service. If you come in on your cell phone, I will ignore you until you are off of it. I do not do well with this one. You are not that important. Get off your phone.

2. Don't ask stupid questions. I hate it when I get to the veggies and I ask "What else would you like on your sandwich?" and the customer asks, "What?" Seriously? What do you think I just asked you? There is only one thing I could possibly be asking you to tell me at this point, so please think about it.

3. Don't throw your money at me at the till. Some people throw their debit card or even cash at me instead of handing it over. How hard is it to simply place the card/cash in my hand? I feel like there is nothing more inconsiderate than simply throwing money at me like I don't matter. Please realize that smart, college kids are working at these places and we deserve a little respect!

4. Please use your brain. Here's a tip, when someone asks you if you want anything else with that or if you want a meal with that, that you actually think about what you say next. I can't tell you how many times I have asked "Would you like a meal with that?" and the customer says, "No, but I will take chips and a drink". Um...that is the meal! It is frustrating because it happens over and over again.

5. Drive Thru. Yes, our sandwich restaurant has a drive thru. And it is a nightmare. If you need to ask what kind of bread, veggies, chips, and pop we have you probably should not be coming through the drive thru. Also, you should know that when you ask for a little of that and a lot of this you probably won't be getting it through the drive thru. And when the lobby is empty and there are 5 cars backed up in drive thru, please consider coming inside, it will be much faster and I guarantee you will be more satisfied.

6. If you are old-fashioned and still use checks, PLEASE fill your checks out ahead of time. Do not wait until I tell you the total to get the checkbook out and start filling out your check. Especially during lunch rush. This will hold the line up, and I will get yelled at for it. And in general, have your money ready by the time you get to the till. You have plenty of time, so please use it.

7. Children don't do well on the spot. Kids that are 10 and under do not do well order their sandwich under pressure, and need you to order the sub for them or need to know ahead of time what they want. When we have a line to the door, it is very frustrating waiting 5 minutes for a kid to decide what type of bread he wants. I love kids to death, but seriously choose the bread for them because they don't know or really care what type of bread they eat.

8. READ THE SIGNS! Our store has signs everywhere promoting the things that are going on, so please do not be ignorant and please actually read them. This is important. I am not going to tell every single customer that the sandwiches are no longer a certain price, so please read the signs and figure it out. And if you fail to read the signs, do not proceed to yell at me at the till because you did not know that the promotion was over. You are not helpless.

9. You don't need 39 napkins to eat a sandwich. I don't know why, but it irritates me when a customer asks for more napkins when he hasn't even looked to see how many he has. I don't know why it's such an impulsive thing. The reason why we only give a certain amount of napkins out is because you only need a couple. When I do give out extra napkins because I am asked to, it never fails that I find the entire pile out on the table. So not only do I have to throw away un-used napkins and waste them, I have to throw them away because you were too lazy to clean up after yourself or use the extra napkins.

10. This one is mainly for guys. Guys, please don't be a tool. I hate the guys that come through that think they are so funny and clever, and that we enjoy their attempt at being cool. Okay, giving the veggies nicknames is not cool. I have seriously been asked to put "onskies" on someone's sandwich. Yeah, he wanted onions and called them "onskies". After a long day, that is just irritating. Please don't try to be cocky and clever, just be respectful and nice.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea here, I like my job and I like 95% of the customers that walk through the door. And I am a people-person. This is just a list I have compiled over 2 years, so this is 2 years-worth of complaints. It's just the few customers that make some days hard. And I just thought I would share this because I think it's important to know traits that are annoying to some people to understand our own behaviors. I thank you for reading, a lot of this was me just venting how I feel. I hope I did not offend anyone, as that was not the purpose, I just felt it was important to share. Thanks for reading!

Something New

2009-05-07T09:38:00.003-05:00

Well, here it is, my first-ever blog courteous of my boyfriend's prodding (he means well by it however and I do think I will learn to enjoy this) So please understand this is my first blog, and hopefully they will improve as I go.

First thing I should do is tell you a little bit about myself as most people like to know a little bit of a background about their author. This is me ( I have shorter hair now though) I am 22 years old (as of a couple days ago as you can see) and I was born and raised in a small town in south central Minnesota. I grew up working on the farm doing fun tasks such as rock picking, baling, chores, and helping out in the field during the fall harvest. Call me crazy, but there is something rewarding about physical labor and I really enjoy helping my family harvest the crops.

My mom and dad have always been the supportive type, and have treated me with trust and respect which I have not made them regret. I have an older sister who is 25, and we have always been far enough apart that we don't always relate to each other. I am closer to my younger brother who is 18, as we have similar interests such as the Twins, sports in general, and have similar personalities. I don't see them often, but my family means a lot to me and I really enjoy spending time with them.

I was the type of girl who really didn't care about drama, dating, makeup, or spending hours getting ready for school in the morning. So imagine my surprise when I go the South Dakota State University and meet my guy the beginning of my freshman year. John and I have been dating for 3 years and 5 months. He works full-time at Daktronics and also is getting into Photography as late. He took the picture of me up above and has done numerous Senior photos and is going to do his first wedding this summer which is really exciting for him.

We are the type of couple that understands each other and neither of us are over-demanding and we trust each other which allows us to avoid many arguments. Things are going really good for us and I see a bright future ahead.

I am a nursing major at SDSU and I have one semester left before I graduate, which is very exciting. I do not know exactly where I want to work, but with today's economy I may just have to be satisfied with a job to begin with. I would like to live in Sioux Falls though and work in one of the many hospitals there.

I guess this is a pretty good start in understanding who I am. I am sometimes a very opinionated person, but I am always open to at least listen to both sides of a story. Please feel free to leave me any comments to criticize or enourage anything I blog about (that's kinda part of the point of blogging). If you are still reading, I appreciate your patience and attention. I realize this may not be exciting to you, but this is my life and I feel like you need to know some things about me before I blog about things. Thanks again for reading and for your sake, I hope my blogs get more exciting in the future!

Happy Birthday Stacy!

2009-05-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

To my Stacy,
I created this blog for your 22nd birthday mainly because there has been, and will be a lot to write about in the near future, and you need somewhere to put it all into words.

This blog is a tool for you to project your thoughts, insights, nursing papers, ideas, Twins game reviews, love notes to your awesome boyfriend, or general blabbering for your audience. It is what you want it to be, nothing less, and nothing more. By the way, you don't have to worry about everybody seeing this if you don't want them too. You can customize the crap out of it and set your preferences for pretty much anything.

You are a very beautiful and smart woman, and although you'll probably disagree with me, I believe that the world could benefit from the knowledge which you could put into this blog. I learned about blogging in a couple of my journalism classes, and for me, it's a very fun and fulfilling way to express yourself. It takes a little time, and it takes a little while to get used to it, but I hope you at least give it a try. As always, I'm here to help.

I love you with unbelievable passion, and I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Sincerely,
John

PS- Here's a few possible blog topics to help you get started:

- The Twins (players, games, outlook, opinion, etc.)
- Nursing (thoughts, internship, papers, studies, etc.)
- Your awesome boyfriend
- Minnesota
- South Dakota
- Rants about studying
- Friends
- Family
- Photos (it's super-easy to put photos in your blog posts.)
- YouTube videos (also super-easy, your bf knows this stuff.)
- Favorite music

Here's a guide to get you started.