Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

It is finally here! The first day of nursing school! I always have taken pictures of the kids for the first day of school each year, however this year I am the only one going to school - so I had to take a picture of myself! It is SO EXCITING to be in the nursing program!

Here are the highlights of our fabulous trip to Island Park. They are in no particular order. This first picture is looking right out of our cabin's front door. The view is incredible! We had the opportunity to go to the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. What an incredible experience! I was so impressed with the talent of these young actors. The same actors put on three different shows during the summer, rotating a different each day. They must have phenomenal memories! Tanissa , Shandra, Tasha, Ranae , Janae and I went to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Of course, I sang, "Going Courtin '" and "Bless My Beautiful Hide" to everyone for the rest of the weekend! Saturday Night Cynthia, Sheryce , and I saw "The Foreigner". I can't remember ever laughing so hard! I have seen this play before, but this production far exceeded anything I have seen before. Kim pushing Karyssa and Bubba in the Swings My new best friends, Ranae and Janae . ...

We are so fortunate to live so close to a place where we can get away from it all! We celebrated the July 4th holiday on Monday, July 5. We headed up to the canyon for a great day of hiking, playing games, and of course hobo dinners and S'mores! I just LOVE the relaxing atmosphere up there. Tia's friend, Zane, came up with us, and Bubba decided that he was his new best friend!

A couple of weeks ago, Lou and I decided to go for a walk with Bubba. She took him out to strap him in the stroller, when all of the sudden she saw a snake! It wasn't a big snake, and it looked like it wasn't moving, so she just "calmly" strapped Bubba in tight, and wheeled the stroller several feet away, and then called for me. Oh course, Kim was at work, so it was just us ladies to take care of the beast. Lou stood guard until I got there, and then I had a look. Yep, it was a snake alright, it stuck it's forked little tongue right out at me and wiggled just a bit to show me that he was very much alive. And the pattern looked suspiciously like diamonds. Well, I decided that I could take matters in my own hands, so once again I left Lou as a look out to make sure it didn't slither away, and I ran to the back yard to get a shovel. Unfortunately while I was gone he slithered under a ladder that was laying there, so I didn't have a good shot of him w...

Several months ago I was asked to plan something for the ladies in our ward, and I (with the help of several very creative people) came up with the idea of a "Get-Fit Trip" The rules were this: each of the sisters was to make an extra effort to be more active. They were to tally up each mile they went and report it to me each Sunday. Each mile walked, biked, or ran was counted mile for mile. For any other activity they did (lift weights, aerobics, swim, clean out the garage, etc) they got 1 mile for each 15 minutes. Each Sunday I would total up the miles traveled, and then report how far we had gone. At the end of the activity we would have a party celebrating the place where we arrived. I even had a blog where I posted information about places that we had "visited". Well, the end of the activity was supposed to be right around time for my finals, and I got called to be a primary teacher, so honestly, I kind of dropped the ball for the month of May and most of June....

Well, I finally got my letter from Eagle Gate College – I have been accepted into the nursing program! WooHoo!!! I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and now that it is here I have very mixed emotions. On the positive side: Obviously I am thrilled to be accepted! It is so nice to finally know for sure which direction I will be heading. I truly am excited to start studying things directly related to my career choice. I am now on the path that will eventually have an end. I will be achieving a goal that I set many, many years ago. Once again the way has been opened up in a way that confirms that this is what I am supposed to be doing. On the negative side It is going to take an enormous amount of work, homework, studies, hands-on practicals. It is going to require an enormous amount of time, money, and sacrifices for not only me but for my entire family. What if I don’t have the stamina to see it through? What is going to happen with the job I have n...

My sweet hubby is usually terrific at getting me gifts. He has a knack for picking out things (even clothing) that I always like. (I know, I am EXTREMELY fortunate in that regard! - a fact I do NOT take for granted!) However, this year for my birthday, he just didn't have any ideas, so he asked me what I would like. I couldn't come up with any ideas either, so I just asked him to plan a fun date for me. He took the challenge and started planning. We couldn't go on the very day of my birthday because of prior commitments, so he made plans to go this week. I had NO idea what he had planned! He first took me to Sizzler for dinner. Perfect choice! I love the steaks, and he loves the salad bar! It was delicious. After dinner, we took a quick trip to Home Depo - his favorite part of the date, I'm sure!!!! After the Home Depo, we started driving west, I couldn't imagine where we were headed until I saw Toad's. Cool! We were going miniature golfing!!!!!! Ho...