June 2019
Air Conditioner
Several years ago when we replaced our flat roof with a pitched one our contractor (Ashley's husband, Mark) removed the old swamp cooler and wouldn't let us cut a hole in "his" new roof to replace it. We didn't have the money for central air conditioning so every summer we swelter and sweat as we suffer through the hot weather with one window air conditioner and several fans. It has been tolerable, but usually, there are a few weeks where we seriously suffer. This year our furnace has had a few sputters and attacks of not working so we decided to bite the bullet and get a new furnace as well as central air conditioning. I'm thinking that Kim is really going to love it, but I find myself wrapped in a blanket most of the time!
Kalel goes to Yellowstone
Mickel has been planning for over a year for a great-big family vacation to Yellowstone. Kim and I weren't able to go because we had already planned to go to Parrishes house in Texas, but the Woodlands and Dave and Heidi invited Kalel to go with them. He had an absolutely marvelous time with all of his aunts, uncles, and cousins. Apparently, there were about 35 people staying in the same house! His mother gave him $50 for incidentals and he was so excited to visit the shops to buy presents for us. He bought me a Yellowstone magnet, a stuffed moose for Kiaya, a keychain for his mother, and he was most excited to give Grandpa Bob his present - a pocketknife that says, "#1 Grandpa". Of course, he bought himself three (yes 3) pocketknives for himself! What a BOY! We are so grateful for those who invited and watched over him so that he could go on this great trip!
INK
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I absolutely refuse to be seen without eye make-up. I don't wear a ton, but I feel like I have no eyes at all without eyeliner and mascara. The problem is that I really struggle to put it on, even after all of these years I still don't feel confident. Not only that, it seems as though my eyes water and it all runs off so by the end of the day it is all smeared or missing completely. I have thought and thought and finally decided that I would have permanent eyeliner applied. I was really nervous about choosing someone who had a lot of experience with positive reviews. Last March when we were at the condo, Janis told us that she had had it done and that she was very impressed with the lady who did it. I got brave and called Tessie at Permanently Perfect right then - and she couldn't get me in for 12 weeks! Well, that gave me plenty of time to make sure that I really wanted to go through with it. I researched Tessie and found that she had very high reviews from previous customers, so I waited and each day I became more and more convinced that I wanted to have it done.
The day finally arrived. Needless to say, I was just a tad bit nervous but knew that I wanted it so bad I was willing to deal with any pain involved. Tessie was wonderful! She applied some anesthetic, I popped in my earbuds and listened to my book, and she went to work. I was very pleasantly surprised that there really wasn't any pain involved. AND - I LOVE it! I couldn't wear any eye make-up for the first five days, but I didn't feel like I was naked because I love the look of the eyeliner. This picture is soon after it was done, so there is still some swelling and ointment.
Tessie will have me go back in a month for a follow-up just to make sure that it still looks good and to see if I want anything changed.
Parrish vacation
A very long-awaited vacation finally arrived! We have been wanted to go on vacation with Mont and Marilyn Parrish for ages, and we were finally able to make it happen - and it did not disappoint. In fact, I can say that I have never had a vacation that brought me so much JOY. I have had more exciting adventures, and vacations with tons of fun, but this trip for some reason just made me feel at peace. I'm sure that part of the reason had to do with the fact that the four of us are such good friends and we haven't spent time together for two years. Perhaps it was because we decided that we all needed a break from the high-paced world we usually live in and we took this vacation at a very leisurely pace. Whatever the reason all four of us expressed the same feelings. It was just comfortable to be with them.
After work on Thursday, June 13, Kim and I headed to the airport. I found a deal online and was able to get cheap, covered parking at a Radisson and caught the shuttle to the airport. It was nice to know that the car would be covered for the entire trip. We flew into Dallas and Marilyn picked us up. Mont arrived home from work shortly after we arrived. Their house is gorgeous! They live in a community called Lantana that is beautiful.
We stayed in Lantana until Sunday. While we were there Mont and Marilyn took us to several fantastic restaurants. Our favorite was the Hard Eight BBQ. It was incredible! You ordered your barbeque meat by the pound and they slapped it on a cafeteria tray. You then walked along a counter to choose from tons of side dishes. You didn't even eat on plates, we just ate off of the tray!
Friday morning Mont went to work and Marilyn took Kim and me to the Fort Worth Stockyard Historic District. It was a totally touristy thing to do, but still fun. As we drove into a parking lot we were shocked to see a cowboy walking down the street with a big, long-horned steer wearing a SADDLE! Apparently, you can get a ride for a mere $30. Twice a day there is a cattle stampede. Here is the description from the website:
The Old West comes to life before your eyes during the world's only twice-daily cattle drive presented by the Fort Worth Herd. Real Texas cowhands drive a herd of Texas longhorns down East Exchange Avenue in the Stockyards National Historic District every day. Every detail of the cattle drive—from the saddles and chaps to the boots and hats – is authentic and historically true.
It was fun to stand just off of the street and watch these huge animals with gigantic horns walk right by! After the stampede, we did a little window shopping in the cute shops. They reminded me of the shops in Jackson, WY. We decided to try a Nestle cookie shop for lunch and had great sandwiches and of course yummy cookies.
Saturday Mont left early for work while we lounged around enjoying some downtime. A little later we drove to Elm Fork where Kim spent the rest of the day "working" with Mont. While we were there we got the VIP tour of the range. It was actually fascinating to see everything going on. There was a high-school tournament that day. The range was having a little flooding, something that happens too frequently Mont says, so some of the stations were not accessible. Kim had a fun day with Mont and of course, got to try his hand at shooting clay pigeons.
While Kim and Mont worked, Marilyn and I did a little shopping and then decided to see the new Aladdin movie. It was pretty good. I was worried that I wouldn't like it, but we both felt that Will Smith did a pretty good job as the Genie.
The next morning we got up early and went to church. It was a great sacrament meeting. I can never get over the wonderful feeling I have when I attend church in another place. It is always so comforting to know that church is basically the same no matter where you are. The spirit is the same, the testimonies are just as inspiring, the sacrament is still a time to recommit to always remember Christ.
After church we hopped in the car for the drive to Branson. I honestly had not looked at a map and was surprised that we drove through Oklahoma and Arkansas on our way to Missouri. Arkansas was was amazing! I had no idea how lush and green it is. The drive was mostly on two or four-lane roads, not freeway, and so we were able to see lots of towns and houses along the drive. We saw huge beautiful houses and we saw some old shacks. It was a great drive - as far as drives go. Before we left Texas we stopped at a ginormous convenience store called Buc-ees. It was the largest c-store that I have ever seen. They had everything, clothes, toys, decor, groceries, barbecue food, and hand-made fudge. Of course I had to buy some fudge for the trip - and it was yummy! The trip to Branson took us about seven hours, but it was nice just to be with our good friends, so I survived the trip.
The condo in Branson was AMAZING! It is my favorite so far of all the condos I have visited. The layout was very comfortable, it had a garden tub in the master, and best of all there was a hot tub on the back deck. We spent time each and every day in that hot tub just relaxing and talking. We were on the ground level and just off of the back deck was a small river covered by trees. Each night we would sit outside and watch the fireflies dance around the trees. At about 8:30 each evening a chorus of bullfrogs would start croaking to keep us company. They were LOUD! If you have never heard a chorus of bullfrogs, you don't know what you are missing!
We planned to have a lot of downtime on this trip, and we enjoyed it immensely. We just talked, relaxed, played some games, watched a few movies, and even talked with Maddie when she called her parents from her mission in Honduras. It was PERFECT!
For Father's Day, Marilyn and I decided to get our guys matching, tropical, tourist shirts. They were such good sports and even wore them at the same time around the town and to a dinner show!
We saw some great shows including a Broadway Revue, Samson, and a murder mystery dinner. Each was awesome, all in different ways. Marilyn and I let the guys stay home while we enjoyed two hours of familiar and fun songs from Broadway. Samson was a magnificent production at the Lights and Sound Theater. The stage wrapped around so that the audience could get an even better experience. This theater has its own writers and only produces plays that are based on Bible topics. The murder mystery dinner was tons of fun because audience members were recruited to play several of the parts. Mont was chosen to play the character of "Chris P. Bacon" He did an awesome job!
We took a tour through the Titanic Museum in Branson. I was intrigued by the fact that the Titanic Museum was in Branson - thousands of miles from the ocean, but we did the tour anyway. Each of us was given a card with information of an actual passenger on the ship and it was fun to discover about the real people and a little of their lives. We were able to search to see if our person survived or died in the disaster. Mont, Kim, and I all had characters who survived, but Marilyn's character actually gave up her seat on the lifeboat to another woman, and she perished. We were able to experience the water at the same temperature it was that night - a frigid 22°. Mont tried to keep his hand and arm in the water but only made it about a minute before he said his arm was aching so bad that he couldn't keep it in. It was a very interesting experience, and I'm glad that we took the time to see it.
This trip was absolutely one of the best I have ever had! I'm pretty sure because it was so relaxing and comfortable. Spending time with the Parrishes was perfect! We miss them so much! We feel so blessed to have had them in our lives for so much time.
School
I can't honestly say that I am not crazy! When you work in the academic field furthering education always feels like a carrot dangling right in front of your nose tempting you to go back to school. I
have thought about it many times in the last couple of years, I even applied once, but I was always able to let sanity take over in time to stop me from committing. Well, this time I caved! My coworker and friend, Amber, and I decided to hold hands and jump into it with both feet. We enrolled in the DNP (Doctor of Nurse Practitioner) program at Grand Canyon University. We have both been going back and forth between getting a PhD, and EdD, or a DNP. We decided to go for the DNP (mostly because there is not a requirement to write a dissertation). I may tack on an Educational Leadership as we go along. This program will not lead me to be able to have my own practice, but will give me the education I need to someday be able to teach online and upper-level classes. I love to teach face-to-face, but I hate the commute to school and one day would like to be able to travel and still work from wherever I am.
So, yes, I am totally crazy! So far the work is very challenging but not overwhelming. I have asked Dr. Stanton Bailey to be my mentor and my clinical project is going to focus on ways to help women with diabetes in pregnancy better control their blood sugars. Since Kim is often at work when I get home, I have been able to spend time in the evenings working on homework. So far so good!
My Birthday
I made a decision this year. I am not fond of the increasing numbers of my age, so I have decided that I am going to remain 35 years old until further notice. 35 seems like a very good age to be. At 35 my body still agreed with the concept of playing volleyball and softball. My future seemed endless and getting additional education made sense since I would be able to use it for many years to come. People have asked how I plan to address the fact that my children are close to or exceeding my age of 35, I don't know the answer to that, and I'm not going to spend precious time worrying about it.
On my birthday I awoke to find that my daises were in full bloom! What a great gift. In addition, the girls and Kim gave me a flower basket to hang near them. Kim also gave me a bouquet of daisies and the cutest card. We celebrated by having dinner at Idle Isle. Quite low-key, but very nice.
Teaching another class
One of the instructors at my school suddenly left and so I picked up the Pharm I class. I taught it previously so it hasn't been too much of a strain other than making sure that I am aligning everything that has been posted in the classwork schedule. Pharm is not my favorite subject, but I really like getting to know the students in their first semester of nursing classes. I now teach the same students in their 3rd, 6th, and 9th semesters. I love to see them as their knowledge and skills grow. It looks like they have hired someone to teach in Murray so I will not be going down there anymore. It is bittersweet. I love teaching Maternal Newborn, but I am SO excited to not have that drive anymore.
Summer is half over already! I hope I get to spend more time enjoying it!
Several years ago when we replaced our flat roof with a pitched one our contractor (Ashley's husband, Mark) removed the old swamp cooler and wouldn't let us cut a hole in "his" new roof to replace it. We didn't have the money for central air conditioning so every summer we swelter and sweat as we suffer through the hot weather with one window air conditioner and several fans. It has been tolerable, but usually, there are a few weeks where we seriously suffer. This year our furnace has had a few sputters and attacks of not working so we decided to bite the bullet and get a new furnace as well as central air conditioning. I'm thinking that Kim is really going to love it, but I find myself wrapped in a blanket most of the time!
Kalel goes to Yellowstone
Mickel has been planning for over a year for a great-big family vacation to Yellowstone. Kim and I weren't able to go because we had already planned to go to Parrishes house in Texas, but the Woodlands and Dave and Heidi invited Kalel to go with them. He had an absolutely marvelous time with all of his aunts, uncles, and cousins. Apparently, there were about 35 people staying in the same house! His mother gave him $50 for incidentals and he was so excited to visit the shops to buy presents for us. He bought me a Yellowstone magnet, a stuffed moose for Kiaya, a keychain for his mother, and he was most excited to give Grandpa Bob his present - a pocketknife that says, "#1 Grandpa". Of course, he bought himself three (yes 3) pocketknives for himself! What a BOY! We are so grateful for those who invited and watched over him so that he could go on this great trip!
 |
| #1 - a car full of fun! #2 Dave, Heidi, and the kids #3 Junior Ranger training |
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I absolutely refuse to be seen without eye make-up. I don't wear a ton, but I feel like I have no eyes at all without eyeliner and mascara. The problem is that I really struggle to put it on, even after all of these years I still don't feel confident. Not only that, it seems as though my eyes water and it all runs off so by the end of the day it is all smeared or missing completely. I have thought and thought and finally decided that I would have permanent eyeliner applied. I was really nervous about choosing someone who had a lot of experience with positive reviews. Last March when we were at the condo, Janis told us that she had had it done and that she was very impressed with the lady who did it. I got brave and called Tessie at Permanently Perfect right then - and she couldn't get me in for 12 weeks! Well, that gave me plenty of time to make sure that I really wanted to go through with it. I researched Tessie and found that she had very high reviews from previous customers, so I waited and each day I became more and more convinced that I wanted to have it done.
The day finally arrived. Needless to say, I was just a tad bit nervous but knew that I wanted it so bad I was willing to deal with any pain involved. Tessie was wonderful! She applied some anesthetic, I popped in my earbuds and listened to my book, and she went to work. I was very pleasantly surprised that there really wasn't any pain involved. AND - I LOVE it! I couldn't wear any eye make-up for the first five days, but I didn't feel like I was naked because I love the look of the eyeliner. This picture is soon after it was done, so there is still some swelling and ointment.
Tessie will have me go back in a month for a follow-up just to make sure that it still looks good and to see if I want anything changed.
Parrish vacation
A very long-awaited vacation finally arrived! We have been wanted to go on vacation with Mont and Marilyn Parrish for ages, and we were finally able to make it happen - and it did not disappoint. In fact, I can say that I have never had a vacation that brought me so much JOY. I have had more exciting adventures, and vacations with tons of fun, but this trip for some reason just made me feel at peace. I'm sure that part of the reason had to do with the fact that the four of us are such good friends and we haven't spent time together for two years. Perhaps it was because we decided that we all needed a break from the high-paced world we usually live in and we took this vacation at a very leisurely pace. Whatever the reason all four of us expressed the same feelings. It was just comfortable to be with them.
After work on Thursday, June 13, Kim and I headed to the airport. I found a deal online and was able to get cheap, covered parking at a Radisson and caught the shuttle to the airport. It was nice to know that the car would be covered for the entire trip. We flew into Dallas and Marilyn picked us up. Mont arrived home from work shortly after we arrived. Their house is gorgeous! They live in a community called Lantana that is beautiful.
We stayed in Lantana until Sunday. While we were there Mont and Marilyn took us to several fantastic restaurants. Our favorite was the Hard Eight BBQ. It was incredible! You ordered your barbeque meat by the pound and they slapped it on a cafeteria tray. You then walked along a counter to choose from tons of side dishes. You didn't even eat on plates, we just ate off of the tray!
The Old West comes to life before your eyes during the world's only twice-daily cattle drive presented by the Fort Worth Herd. Real Texas cowhands drive a herd of Texas longhorns down East Exchange Avenue in the Stockyards National Historic District every day. Every detail of the cattle drive—from the saddles and chaps to the boots and hats – is authentic and historically true.
It was fun to stand just off of the street and watch these huge animals with gigantic horns walk right by! After the stampede, we did a little window shopping in the cute shops. They reminded me of the shops in Jackson, WY. We decided to try a Nestle cookie shop for lunch and had great sandwiches and of course yummy cookies.
Saturday Mont left early for work while we lounged around enjoying some downtime. A little later we drove to Elm Fork where Kim spent the rest of the day "working" with Mont. While we were there we got the VIP tour of the range. It was actually fascinating to see everything going on. There was a high-school tournament that day. The range was having a little flooding, something that happens too frequently Mont says, so some of the stations were not accessible. Kim had a fun day with Mont and of course, got to try his hand at shooting clay pigeons.
While Kim and Mont worked, Marilyn and I did a little shopping and then decided to see the new Aladdin movie. It was pretty good. I was worried that I wouldn't like it, but we both felt that Will Smith did a pretty good job as the Genie.
The next morning we got up early and went to church. It was a great sacrament meeting. I can never get over the wonderful feeling I have when I attend church in another place. It is always so comforting to know that church is basically the same no matter where you are. The spirit is the same, the testimonies are just as inspiring, the sacrament is still a time to recommit to always remember Christ.
After church we hopped in the car for the drive to Branson. I honestly had not looked at a map and was surprised that we drove through Oklahoma and Arkansas on our way to Missouri. Arkansas was was amazing! I had no idea how lush and green it is. The drive was mostly on two or four-lane roads, not freeway, and so we were able to see lots of towns and houses along the drive. We saw huge beautiful houses and we saw some old shacks. It was a great drive - as far as drives go. Before we left Texas we stopped at a ginormous convenience store called Buc-ees. It was the largest c-store that I have ever seen. They had everything, clothes, toys, decor, groceries, barbecue food, and hand-made fudge. Of course I had to buy some fudge for the trip - and it was yummy! The trip to Branson took us about seven hours, but it was nice just to be with our good friends, so I survived the trip.
 |
| Kim interacting with a bison somewhere in Arkansas |
We saw some great shows including a Broadway Revue, Samson, and a murder mystery dinner. Each was awesome, all in different ways. Marilyn and I let the guys stay home while we enjoyed two hours of familiar and fun songs from Broadway. Samson was a magnificent production at the Lights and Sound Theater. The stage wrapped around so that the audience could get an even better experience. This theater has its own writers and only produces plays that are based on Bible topics. The murder mystery dinner was tons of fun because audience members were recruited to play several of the parts. Mont was chosen to play the character of "Chris P. Bacon" He did an awesome job!
We took a tour through the Titanic Museum in Branson. I was intrigued by the fact that the Titanic Museum was in Branson - thousands of miles from the ocean, but we did the tour anyway. Each of us was given a card with information of an actual passenger on the ship and it was fun to discover about the real people and a little of their lives. We were able to search to see if our person survived or died in the disaster. Mont, Kim, and I all had characters who survived, but Marilyn's character actually gave up her seat on the lifeboat to another woman, and she perished. We were able to experience the water at the same temperature it was that night - a frigid 22°. Mont tried to keep his hand and arm in the water but only made it about a minute before he said his arm was aching so bad that he couldn't keep it in. It was a very interesting experience, and I'm glad that we took the time to see it.
School
I can't honestly say that I am not crazy! When you work in the academic field furthering education always feels like a carrot dangling right in front of your nose tempting you to go back to school. I
have thought about it many times in the last couple of years, I even applied once, but I was always able to let sanity take over in time to stop me from committing. Well, this time I caved! My coworker and friend, Amber, and I decided to hold hands and jump into it with both feet. We enrolled in the DNP (Doctor of Nurse Practitioner) program at Grand Canyon University. We have both been going back and forth between getting a PhD, and EdD, or a DNP. We decided to go for the DNP (mostly because there is not a requirement to write a dissertation). I may tack on an Educational Leadership as we go along. This program will not lead me to be able to have my own practice, but will give me the education I need to someday be able to teach online and upper-level classes. I love to teach face-to-face, but I hate the commute to school and one day would like to be able to travel and still work from wherever I am. So, yes, I am totally crazy! So far the work is very challenging but not overwhelming. I have asked Dr. Stanton Bailey to be my mentor and my clinical project is going to focus on ways to help women with diabetes in pregnancy better control their blood sugars. Since Kim is often at work when I get home, I have been able to spend time in the evenings working on homework. So far so good!
My Birthday
I made a decision this year. I am not fond of the increasing numbers of my age, so I have decided that I am going to remain 35 years old until further notice. 35 seems like a very good age to be. At 35 my body still agreed with the concept of playing volleyball and softball. My future seemed endless and getting additional education made sense since I would be able to use it for many years to come. People have asked how I plan to address the fact that my children are close to or exceeding my age of 35, I don't know the answer to that, and I'm not going to spend precious time worrying about it.
On my birthday I awoke to find that my daises were in full bloom! What a great gift. In addition, the girls and Kim gave me a flower basket to hang near them. Kim also gave me a bouquet of daisies and the cutest card. We celebrated by having dinner at Idle Isle. Quite low-key, but very nice.
Teaching another class
One of the instructors at my school suddenly left and so I picked up the Pharm I class. I taught it previously so it hasn't been too much of a strain other than making sure that I am aligning everything that has been posted in the classwork schedule. Pharm is not my favorite subject, but I really like getting to know the students in their first semester of nursing classes. I now teach the same students in their 3rd, 6th, and 9th semesters. I love to see them as their knowledge and skills grow. It looks like they have hired someone to teach in Murray so I will not be going down there anymore. It is bittersweet. I love teaching Maternal Newborn, but I am SO excited to not have that drive anymore.
Summer is half over already! I hope I get to spend more time enjoying it!
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