Thanksgiving

We kicked off our holiday celebrations in 2011 with flying out to Utah to spend time with my family. My parents flew out as well. We stayed at Dallin and Shannon's home and had a great time hanging with the family. It made me really miss having family around. I was most excited to finally meet my nephew Hudson!

Us on Thanksgiving day.
The boys cutting the turkey. Dallin and Shannon hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their house but I think I did their job. I made the turkey, cranberry sauce and dessert!

Friday after Thanksgiving the girls went and did some shopping. That night we went on the Polar Express. We took the train to the North Pole and Santa came and visited all the kids. My nieces and nephews wore their PJs, like in the movie and loved the train ride.
Oliver is the cutest kid ever! Ava and Ashton are best friends.
I could not get enough of Noah. He loves to cuddle and is always smiling. I think Bryan was most excited to see Ashton again and to finally meet Oliver.

Saturday Bryan and I hung out with Natalia and got see to Carrie and Eric Moyle. Saturday night we went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was packed and freezing. We did not stay long but the lights were beautiful. Being in Utah surrounded by so many temples make me want to live there.

It was FREEZING!!


Sunday we just relaxed with the family, visited Bryan's cousin Brent, his wife Luci and their kids. That night we took the red eye home to be back to the real world. I started work at the hospital the next day and Bryan had finals. It was so nice to get away and enjoy the holiday with family. It was a great way to kick off the holidays.

All Grown Up

With my new full time job I get benefits and make enough money to live on our own. My dad called me yesterday asking me when I could get off his health insurance and when I could get off his payroll. It was a turning moment in my life. I felt so grown up. I can fully support my family. BUT its SCARY. If I don't work I can't pay my bills. I know everyone in the world pays their way but this is the first time in my life I can ACTUALLY pay my way. It liberating!

Its also a great motivator. I never had much motivation to work.. most of my family and friends already know that! But now its up to me to pay for our lives. That is a daunting thought but the best motivation I ever had to actually work. I started calculating how much I could make with over time and working holidays that I was like yes sign me up for more work! Who thought I would ever say that??

So the older I get the more grown up I am feeling. I love the freedom that comes from making my own money and being able to actually go out to dinner and enjoy it. Not think about how much does a diet coke cost.

Growing up does have its down falls. For example Bryan is in California hanging with the family while I am still in Florida working until the 22nd and then I can leave for California. I also have to return home the 28th to get back to work. I know this is what normal people do but I only know the student life. I am transitioning into the working world and its so weird! But I cannot complain, I am so grateful to have a job!

Christmas Decorating

Today we put up our Christmas decorations and nothing is more magical than a house decorated for Christmas. I love it. It makes me happy. It brings back so many memories and family traditions. I cannot wait until we have a home of our own and can put up Christmas lights outside. The only thing missing now is our tree- which we will pick up after Thanksgiving!

Bryan and I make it a family affair. We both decorate the house while watching a Christmas movie and eating Christmas cookies. It really puts us in the Christmas Spirit and gets me excited for the next month.

This Christmas might be a little different this year because I have to stay in Florida to work while Bryan get to be with his family in California. Now I will get to have the Christmas week off but not the whole month like a student. It is making me treasure every moment we get to do family things and holiday celebrations together.

Working Woman

I GOT A JOB!!!!! Most of you know that already but I want to journal the story of my first RN job!

I graduated Nursing school in July and took the state boards in August. I have never been so nervous in my life to take a test. It was much easier than I thought it was going to be. Once I got my official RN license I started drafting my resume. After about 2 weeks of drafting, much peer review, and attending a resume class I finished it. It was now time to apply to jobs. I started applying to every RN job within 30 minutes of my house. I applied to over 300 jobs and in 10 different hospitals. After about 3 weeks I started getting discourage and scarred. I would call the nursing recruiters at different hospitals and they all said call back in January or some would not even speak to me! SO I applied to nanny jobs... I will be honest i had no intentions of ever being a nanny but just applying to the jobs made me feel better. I thought about applying to some retail positions until I get my RN job. I would spent 5-6 hours a day finding and applying to jobs. I was determined to get hired.

The next week I get a call from a home health agency wanting to hire me. I will be honest I have no idea how they even got my resume. I was so EXCITED. I always said I would never work in home health, but someone wanted to hire me. It gave me a lot of confidence. SO in the beginning of October I started working for a home health Agency as an IV nurse.

Even though I was working I kept applying to hospital jobs. I enjoyed the home health job way more than expected but my dream has always been to work in a hospital. One day I called Palmetto General Hospital's recruiter and we had a great conversation. I asked him if there was anything I could do to help get my foot in the door and find a job. He took time to talk to me. He said call back in a week and I did. I called back and he asked me about working on the telemetry unit. I said I would love that. A couple of days later I get a call from the Director or Nursing for the telemetry unit asking to come in for a interview. Later that week I go in for the interview. I was so nervous. Bryan and I practice all morning my interviewing skills.

The interview was on a thursday. I had to work all day and rush down to Miami afterwards. I left work late and was so nervous I was going to be late for the interview. I really think God got me to my interview on time. I thought I answered every question great. Then, they started asking me medication questions and I got nervous. I answered them to my best ability but left the interview thinking well I didn't get that job. On my way home I called Bryan to see if I answered the questions right. I DID. That experience taught me to trust myself more. I always tell myself oh I am a new graduate I don't know much. But the truth is I do know a lot. The very next day I get a phone call form the recruiter saying they loved you and want to hire you!! I almost cried. I had to get some things in order but I got my dream job!!

2 weeks later I signed the contract. Its a full time job with benefits for a 2 year contract. I got a great sign on bonus and so excited to finally put all my schooling to work!! I feel so blessed and truly believe Heavenly Father helped me get this job.

Pumpkin

I love Fall. The colors, the weather and PUMPKINS. My whole house is decorated with pumpkins. Here are some pictures.

The Fall colors I love
5 Pumpkins on my entertainment center
My favorite Pumpkin.

Pumpkin center piece, pumpkin napkin holders and pumpkin table cloth.

I kick off fall with my mother's pumpkin bread. I add chocolate chips to it and sometimes make a cream cheese buttercream frosting to ice with. We love it and Bryan craves it all the time. Here is the recipe.

In one bowl add

3 1/2 C flour

2 1/2 C sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

In another bowl add

1 tsp nutmeg

2 C pumpkin

1 C oil

4 Eggs

Mix liquid with dry ingredients. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. I start checking it at 50 to 55 mins.

Golf

Lately, we have been really into golfing. Bryan has been playing since he was 14 but the other day we both went to the driving range. I borrowed some of his clubs and hit some balls. I loved it. It was nice to get out the house, a break from applying to jobs and do something together. We tried road biking together and that was a disaster!! Even though we are on different levels we can be next to each other talking and playing. Its a good marriage sport!!

SO after we went to the driving range Bryan said lets go to the golf store. We did and he wanted me to look at clubs. I was not prepared to buy any clubs so was only looking at the cheap ones. I did not really like them. I could tell neither did Bryan. I just felt like after I get semi decent I would be able to tell they suck! About 1 hour later after looking at different clubs and deciding I don't want any, I randomly picked up a set, played it and loved it. I said these are it. They are high end but I only got 1/2 set. Instead of getting 14 clubs I got 7 (something like that)

During this whole process Bryan was not saying a word. It was driving me nuts. Later he told me he wanted me to make the decision not him. So about 2 hours later we left the store with a set of clubs and the cutest bag ever. We have been golfing together as much as possible ever since. Its a great stress reliever for Bryan and time spent together. Now we are looking at golf vacations...

This is my golf bag and clubs.

Where Dreams Come True

My Brother's family went to Disney World again this year and we drove up to vacation with them. We love vacationing with them and LOVE disney world. This was Bryan's first and he was impressed. He loved it. While we were there he kept talking about our next trip!!

Saturday it RAINED all day, but that did not stop us from playing. We did Hollywood Studios all day but around 5PM we got too cold and too wet to go on. So that night we went to the Pent house and watched the firework show from there.

The view from the penthouse during the fire work show.

Estella and Me.

The girls hanging out. Logan and Lauren drove over as well.

Loving Disney in the rain!
Bryan and I at Epcot.
US with my Brother's kids. We love them!

Can't wait for my next Disney Trip!! I hope it soon.