The Simple Things

I just thought I'd write a little about my week. It actually turned out to be a really good one. I got a few things done around the house and at my mom's. I finally cleaned out her bathroom cupboards and organized all her makeup and things. I have been meaning to get to this for a while.

On Tuesday night we had a spa party with the Taylor girls! We did foot massages and pedicures, it was so nice to relax and have some good laughs with our best friends. We got out some old pictures from our trip to Ireland way back in the day, it was pretty funny. We snapped a few pics with Paula's camera, so when I get a copy I'll have to post um.

I had to work a few shifts this week, but they were actually not crazy ones for once. It's sometimes nice to have a slow day. Our ICU has been packed lately and we've had some pretty critical patients. It can be stressful sometimes and its hard to not get sucked up in the sad stories. I find it hard to leave the emotions behind when I come home. But on the other hand, it's always gratifying when I see a success or watch someone come out of something that you never thought they could survive.  I have learned from my work to never take life for granted. Life is so precious and can change so fast.

On Friday I took mom to physical therapy. I've decided that this is one of my favorite things to do with her. She has the most awesome trainer. We do lots of fun exercises together like throwing a ball back and forth or trying to bobble a balloon in the air. Mom has so much fun and finds everything to be so silly. I have never seen her laugh so hard or so much. It usually takes a lot to make her laugh, but at therapy she constantly has a smile on her face. Drew (her trainer) and I laugh too. Mom's laugh is so contagious, we all had one of those hysterical bouts of laughter when you just can't stop. Seeing my mom so happy brought tears to my eyes. I always leave the gym with a huge smile on my face and looking forward to the next week when we can have more laugh attacks.

Later Friday night, Ryan and I went out. We had dinner at Olive Garden. We decided to go out early instead of on Monday night just to avoid the crowds. Ryan and I also spent to weekend putting together our gym in the basement. We finally got a little TV in the workout room so I won't be so bored on the treadmill. I have used it a few times now and it really makes a big difference.

On Saturday, Ryan went snowboarding with Matt and some of his friends. I spent the afternoon going to lunch with Pearl and her mom Paula and Courtney, one of Matt's friend's girlfriend. We also went to the BYU Museum of Art with Carl Bloch's exhibit. I have been wanting to go to this for a while now, cause everyone that's been says it's pretty awesome. Well not that I've been, I can say that too. I found one of my favorite paintings of Christ, and I have never seen it before. I'm not a huge art person, but when I came into the room with this huge painting on the wall, I was immediately enthralled. It is a picture of Christ in Gethsemane being held in the arms of an angel. I was amazed by the emotion captured in Christ's face, I could see the agony and sorrow. But the way that he submits in the angel's arms and how she holds him also brings a feeling of comfort and relief. Very bittersweet.

Here's a picture from online, but it really brings no justice to the original. If you're around Provo and haven't seen the exhibit yet, you really should go. Unless you have a trip planned for Denmark anytime soon.

After the boys got home last night, we took Recon and went over to Pearlie's house for sushi and poker night. Courtney is becoming a chef and she gave us all quite the show making yummy sushi for us. I'm not a huge fan of the raw fish, but I must say that this was some pretty tasty sushi. Thanks Courtney.

Anyways, if you are still reading this, thanks. I guess my point is that I had a pretty good week. I am so blessed and I am trying harder to enjoy the simple things in life more. I am surrounded by some really great people. I can't tell you how amazing all of our neighbors and family members are. Without them, I don't know how we'd make it. Thank you to everyone, for all you do.

One Year, One-Hundred Pounds

Recon's birthday was yesterday! He's a year old now, I'm not sure if I really believe it, I feel like he was just a puppy the other day. He is so big now, last time we weighed him a few weeks ago he hit a 100 lbs! He started his B-day weekend off by going over to meet his new friend Rivers (Pearl and Matt's dog). They played for 5 hours straight in the backyard and he absolutely loved it! Rivers is a golden-doodle and he is around 8 months old now. He's about the same height as Recon. They had lots of fun roaming around the yard. Pearl and Matt have a huge chunk of BLM land in their backyard and Recon had a hay day climbing around and smelling all the wonderful smells. Recon slept so good that night. Sunday I had to work, so Recon got to hang out all day with his number one favorite person, his dad. They went on a really long walk and played in the park. Then they hunkered down and did manly things together while watching the Super Bowl. Of course Recon rooted for Green Bay and his Birthday wish came true when they won! When I got home from work, I put together his B-day cake that I baked the night before. We sang to him and then he ate a huge slice of it in one gulp! Obviously you can all tell that Recon is pretty much like our child. I love this dog. He has become my favorite running partner, he likes to help me do dishes and follows me around the house all day when Ryan's not home. Once Ryan comes home he is glued to his side. He is such a daddy's boy. We are so happy that we chose this pup a year ago, he really has become an important part of the family.

I forgot to get a picture of Recon and Rivers together, but I did catch James wearing my boots!

And for old times sake I had to add a picture of Recon when he was six weeks old! The day we first picked him out. 

Family Photo

We had our well needed family photos taken when everyone was in town for New Years. I'm still waiting to get my copy of the CD, but I copied these pictures off my brothers blog so I could post them. I think they turned out pretty nice. Especially cause Ryan has a Jesus halo around his head, like in the old Catholic paintings.

Troublemakers

I didn't take too many pictures over the holidays, but I did snap this pic of these two cuties. I never thought I'd meet a bigger pansy than Ember, but Ruger has her beat. No offense Brian and Shelley. 

2010

We started our Christmas adventure by leaving our home and driving to Cheyenne. About halfway through our drive there we heard the sad news that Ryan's Grandpa Mosbrucker had passed away unexpectedly. So we got to Cheyenne that night and left the next morning for Billings, MT. We had to extend our trip and ended up staying in Billings until the 29th to attend the funeral. We were lucky enough to be able to stay at Ryan's grandma and grandpa Dunlop's house. We celebrated Christmas there and Ryan's Aunt and Uncle (Barb and Burt) made an awesome prime rib dinner for us. We did some shopping in town, neither of us had clothes for the funeral. We spent time with Ryan's mom's family. It was really nice getting to know them.

We left for home right after the funeral on the 29th. The weather had been so nice all weak, but of course, with our luck it started storming as we were leaving. We made it to Big Sky, Montana after 6 hours and only 150 miles of white knuckle driving. It was a complete white out. The temperature was -20 degrees and we probably passed 100 crosses along the road side. I had had enough and finally convinced Ryan to pull over and get a hotel for the night. Luckily we hit the last stop before 60 miles of nothing to Yellowstone. It was a very scary night. The next morning we drove the rest of the way home. The roads were still awful but once we hit 1-15 in the middle of Idaho it was a lot better and we were able to make it back to home sweet home.The trip from Billings to Provo ended up taking us 24 hrs. We were just glad we made it all in one piece.

My entire family was able to come home for New Years. The 31st was awesome. In the morning we had a professional family picture taken. It has been many years since we had one taken. It will be really nice to have an updated one with the whole family. I got lucky and I was able to be called off from work that night because our census was low, so I got to spend the night with my family. We all went up to the cabin and had homemade clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls that my grandparents made for us. It was pretty tasty. Then we did our little family gift exchange. We received the most awesome gift from my brother Matt and his wife Mitra. They had taken a picture of Recon and found a painter in Hong Kong and he did an oil painting of it. It is so cool!

After we were all done opening presents we all found ourselves in shock. Mike, my sister Anna's boyfriend said that there was one more present that needed to be opened. He got down on his knee in front of everyone and pulled out a beautiful ring, proposing to my sister. Of course she said yes! It was so cute. We are so excited to have him join our family. He is an awesome guy and he'll fit right in. Good thing we let him be in our family pictures earlier that day:)

We celebrated the New Years all together. I don't  remember the last time we were all together to celebrate it. It was really special. Everyone went home the next day and I had to go back to work.

2010 was an absolutely crazy year. We settled in to our new home and finished tons of projects on it including our basement renovation and master bedroom remodel. Ryan finished another year of school and finished his internship for the year. We were excited to find out the they will be hiring him back in the office to continue his internship in the spring. I feel like I had an amazing year at work. My confidence and experience level as a ICU nurse sky rocketed. I became very experienced in caring for post open heart surgery patients. This was a big accomplishment for me as I was pretty scared in the beginning.

2010 brought many happy blessings to our family. We gained two more sister in laws (Mitra and Analyn) with Matt and Andrew's weddings. We also welcomed two nephews into the family as well, Henry and Eamon. We also adopted our loving pet Recon. Our family was also blessed with the bittersweet diagnosis of PSP/FTD for my mom and we had many questions answered. This year has been a roller coaster and full of mixed emotions. It was a very stressful year, and I don't think I would have never gotten through it without all the caring people that surround us.

Hopefully 2011 will be filled with many happy memories.  Best wishes to you all.