Jail Bird

I have been working at the jail for almost 1 month. I never thought in a million years I would be working there. I actually don't hate it. The work is easy and not stressful at all. That is the main reason why I like it. My last job was so stressful that I cried to and from work every time. Its a relief to have a pretty stress-free job. BUT there are some negative about working in a jail. First the language is awful. Second, its like a dungeon and I am all by myself in my nursing post. Third, I work with crazy patients. I have concluded inmates are crazy. Finally, I can't bring a cellphone in. I don't talk to Bryan all day until I come home.

The overall experience is pretty good. It has really made me rely on the Lord more for comfort and safety. I pray every morning to be protected. I have learned that I am grateful for my freedom. I have also learned a lot about the world around me in such a short period. I think we have a failing jail system that needs to be fixed. I have no idea how to fix it but its definitely failing. We have so many "frequent flyers" in the jail system. We spend billions of dollars to help these people out and they come right back into jail.

I work in an ALL male section of the jail and have about 200 patients. I actually prefer working with male inmates instead of women. Women inmates just scare me. I have not heard too crazy of stories yet. Most people are in the jail for drugs, alcohol and theft.

Barefoot Contessa

Ina's new guest home. I love her style. I love this cookbook.. So Yummy!
I am OBSESSED with the Food Network. And when I say obsessed I can watch it ALL day. I, of course, don't but I could. My new favorite chef is Ina Garten. I don't know if I like her show more than I actually like her. I want to be like her. She has a beautiful home in the Hamptons and owned her own bakery and bistro called BareFoot Contessa. Those two things are my dreams.

I realized that watching the Food Network is relaxing. I can turn it on and my body instantly relaxes. When I was little I would get nightmares often and could not sleep. I would go into my basement and ALWAYS turn on the Food network and I would be able to fall asleep. I know that is weird but I have distinct memories of it.

I have also learned that I am often home alone and I think I like having someone talk to me. The food shows are always one person talking to you-the audience. It makes me feel like I have company over. I hope I don't sound like a freak right now!

I am also OBSESSED with cookbooks. Don't know what to buy me--get me a cookbook. I mean a GOOD cookbook. I like to go to the library and read cookbooks. My favorite right now is Back to Basic by Ina Garten and Cooking Light. I have learned to really study a cookbook before I buy it, to make sure I will actually cook the meals. For example, cookbooks that have a lot of fried food or fatty food I never make so I don't buy it. BUT if it has a good dessert selection I might consider it!!

Roses

I love Roses. Actually I love flowers, any kind. I am always bugging Bryan to bring me home flowers. Last weekend I had an IV therapy training class and it was from 9am to 5pm. It was not very fun at all. I got home Saturday night and there was a beautiful bouquet of red roses. Now, Bryan never buys me red roses. So I knew this was special. Thank you Bryan for my flowers. I love it when you surprise me with flowers.

Happy Anniversary!

Two years ago to the date, Bryan and I got married. It was the most special day in my life. I will never forgot the promises we made to each other and the feeling that was felt. I still dream about my wedding day. I wake up every day thinking, "How did I get this lucky!" I married the man of my dreams. He is so kind, gentle, sweet, strong, smart, and good looking. Our first anniversary we went to Park City and enjoy the weekend. This time we did something more low-key. Friday night Bryan turned our house into a spa and I had a spa night. Saturday night I took Bryan to see Darius Rucker and Brad Paisley in concert. The concert was awesome. However, I bought tickets in the lawn section and I will never do that again. We were surrounded by drunks and dirty people the whole time. Spending the extra money for a good seat is so worth it in my opinion. Today, I am making a nice dinner and we are just relaxing. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man.

Its Always Sunny in Florida

WE MADE IT! Finally after a fun filled summer and hard work on Bryan's part we have offically started medical school. I say "WE" because I feel like I started it as well. I kiss Bryan good bye at 7:00am and kiss him Good night at 10:00pm. In between the time I have actively been applying to jobs. I probably have applied to over 30 jobs. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Anyway, Last Sunday Bryan had his White Coat Ceremony, which is an initiation into the medical world. It was a wonderful time. I sat next to beaming parents who were so proud of their son or daughter. I could not have been more proud of Bryan. This has been his life long goal since he was young and he made it happen.

I was nervous and emotional when Bryan started school. Would I be able to handle him being so busy and not always with me? Since we got married we have been inseparable. I do not do well with being by myself and so I was very nervous. BUT, its been 2 weeks and I am not lonely at all. I think it has something to do with it always being Sunny in Florida. If I get bored I just go outside and lay by the pool. I truly believe if we were living anywhere else I would be miserable. I think God was looking out for me when Bryan decided to go to Florida for school.


My mother came to town to help me move in.....THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM! We got so much done and we bought a second bedroom set. I am obsessed with it. I walk by the second bedroom just to look at. I think it looks so clean, fresh and fun. It also reminds me of all the visitors I will be getting.

Life is good for the Payne Family... it would be great if I had a job! We are so excited for this new adventure in our lives.

Much Needed Update

I decided that having a blog is stessful.. what do I write about is always on my mind! Here is an update of our lives.
Bryan graduated from Brigham Young University and said, "It was the best day of his life!" Both of our parents came into town and celebrated with us. It was a fun filled weekend. Soon after we packed up our apartment and moved our things into storage. I thought I would be excited to move out of Provo and into the big world. Well, I was wrong. We have loved living in Provo and being close to family. Every weekend was a party at my house, Brenda's or Dallin's. I am going to miss that. When we packed the last thing up I defiantly got emotional. We crashed at Dallin's house for a couple of weeks until we left for California. We are now in California hanging out with Bryan's family. In one week we take the LONG adventure of driving across country to Florida. It will be our first road trip together and I just hope we don't kill each other. Once we are in Florida we are taking a one way flight to New Jersey and spending time with my family. I am so excited to go home and be with everyone. The older I get the more I realize I LOVE hanging with my family. After spending time in NJ we are driving our other car in florida. Yes, another drive..... i know kill me now. Finally, we are settling in Fort Lauderdale and praying for all you to visit!

Nutella

My new favorite snack is...
homemade bread toasted, add some nutella and cut up strawberries to the toast. For a variety add bananas. It is so good. But don't trust me and go try it for yourself!

Work Work Work

So I got my first job as a nurse and super excited. I feel well prepared for my job and use most of the information I learned in school. I am getting really good at learning new medication, what they do and how they look. BUT there are some things that I HATE!! this is the part where i vent..
1. I love the ER. I like fixing the patient and moving on. I am not really into the long lasting relationship part of nursing!! To bad I don't work in the ER yet.
2. I work on weekends! I am realizing that I can never take a weekend VACA again! Ha
3. My schedule is not a 9 to 5 job. I have to come in when they ask or need me too.. this makes it hard to schedule my days and make plans... This is my number one thing I hate about work!
4. Passing medications ALL DAY LONG is not that fun. I like the fast pace of a hospital.
5. I am super nervous about making a mistake. I try to be a perfectionist at work
6. My feet KILL by the end of 16 hours.
7. I hate the Hour drive!
8. This is the first time in my married life that I thought about getting pregnant.... If i get pregnant then I can quit work:) Then I realized I am crazy and not ready for children.
9. I LOVE the money.. it makes it all worth it.

As I was writing this I started to feel like I sound ungrateful for my job and a brat. I am so grateful that I found a job in this economy, especially being a new grad. I am grateful for the experience I am receiving and the friendships I am making. This is my first REAL job and I think I am very overwhelmed. I came home after the first day of real work and cried all night! But I know with practice and time I will be a great nurse!

Updating for Natalia

So, yes I am only doing this update because Natalia told me to! I have found that I do not have anything to blog about. At least I can't ever think of ideas. So here is an update of my life!

I had my first job interview EVER in my life today. It was just over the phone and it was weird to "brag" about myself and try to sell myself to this person I did not even know!

I am totally into making homemade EVERYTHING! I don't by bread anymore cause I make fresh whole wheat bread every week. Yes, I am proud of myself. I look at how much things cost and try to figure out if i can make it from scratch cheaper.

Brenda and I have been going to this Cooking class regularly and I really like it. Although they try to sell some of the most stupid things that you can do without.

I grounded wheat for the first time in my life this month!

I have lost 10 pounds and want to lose 5 more. When I lost 10 pounds I was only down to my normal weight...that's how fat I was!

I am thinking about starting online RN school cause I have tons of time and nothing to do and want to be done with school FOREVER!

I am so excited to move to Florida and have all of you visit me.. I want to buy a home so badly. I look at homes online almost daily.

We hang out with the family almost every weekend and will miss doing that when we move. I am actually the saddest to leave Ashton. I feel like he has been my little child while Bryan and I have no children.

We are not having children for a while so don't think anything else!!!

I love our ward. We have a fun Bishopric and awesome couples in the ward. We couldn't be happier.

I am becoming more of a perfectionist as I get older. I always hated that in Marissa (sorry miss) but I feel like I am becoming like that!

I am obsessed with the Food network and HGTV. Those are the only tv stations I watch. When we have children I am cutting off the cable.

The longer I am married to Bryan the hotter I think he is... I love watching in run Track

I have become a great budget-er and actually enjoy saving.. Yes that is true.. even though half my friends and family will not believe me.

I like cooking and baking new things just to say I did it. But when they turn out bad i get so mad.. Last week I ran into my room mad and almost crying cause i spent a long time trying to make Bryan a special dinner.

I am excited to start working. I thought I would never say that but I want to make some Benjamins.

Bryan and I have the next 5 years of our life planned out.. I will let you know how closely we follow it.

Finally...... I HATE being alone. Marriage is awesome because you have a constant companion but when that constant companion leave you for a weekend or week or whatever you are utterly alone. No roommates and most of the world doesn't even know you are alone!!

So that is way more then I thought I would/could write..
Random but here is a funny pic of Ashton..

Accepted...

So as some may have heard I have been accepted to medical school. The story of how I have reached this point is one worth sharing. It all started when I applied in June to all the schools that "I" thought would be a good match for me. Then one day in October I was reviewing all the schools to which I had applied and then looked at the schools I had passed up. For some reason one school in specific jumped out of the page and I felt I needed to apply there. For those who don't know October is considered to be relatively late in the application process and your chances of even being considered are decreased significantly. I went ahead anyways and within a week I had been offered an interview. Excited I flew out to Ft. Lauderdale Florida to Nova Southeastern University. To say the least they blew my doors off on how advanced and high ranking the school was. The big seller was the 1 month medical mission to Argentina they offer. (Chance? I think not) After the interview I waited and this past monday Nova extended an offer of acceptance.
I share this story because if I hadn't fallowed that prompting I would have missed out on an offer to a top medical school and perhaps greater opportunities in the future. So it is a strong testimony to me on how involved our Father in Heaven is in our lives.
I am also excited because it has always been a dream of mine to return to Argentina as a doctor and serve the people there. Nova will give me that opportunity and perhaps Heavenly Father is setting me up for something even greater down the road.