First Post of 2015

Hello 2015! I can't believe we're already in a new year. So much has happened in the last few weeks and it's been a blast! Here's a list of our recent activities:

1. Family came into town (Rexburg) on Friday, December 19
2. I graduated from the nursing program on Friday, December 19 (definite highlight!)
3. We took a short family trip down to Salt Lake City to see Temple Square's lights, Welfare Square, Macy's candy ornaments and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building from Monday, December 22 to Tuesday, December 23 (we also enjoyed soaking ourselves in the hotel's hot tub)
4. We had our traditional sister (and Jordan) sleepover on Christmas Eve
5. We celebrated Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house while Skyping Alex and then ate a giant feast and played super fun games at the Ostermiller's house
6. Mom and Dad helped us pack up our apartment before our big move to Utah on Friday, December 26
7. We spent the rest of the weekend playing games, watching movies, eating lots of yummy food and spending time together as a family, including our family Christmas tradition of "The Turtle Dance"
8. Family left Idaho and we attended our Rexburg ward for the last time on Sunday, December 28
9. We loaded our moving truck and finally moved into our Salt Lake apartment on Monday, December 29
10. Jordan started his first day of work while I put the apartment together on Tuesday, December 30
11. We celebrated our second Christmas and spent New Year's Eve with Jordan's mom and sister on Wednesday, December 31
12. We picked up the Ostermiller cousins from the Salt Lake airport after their Disneyland trip on Friday, January 2 and they spent the night at our house
13. We attended our new ward (also Jordan's mom's ward) for the first time and had a family gathering out at his grandparents' house on Sunday, January 4

That's about it! Now for memory's sake, here 's a list of food places we've eaten at recently:

1.Winger's
2. Chick-fil-a
3. Godfather's Pizza
4. Wendy's
5. Soda Vine
6. Arctic Circle
7. Cafe Rio
8. The Jasmine Chinese Bistro
9. Panda Express
10. Cafe Zupas
11. Domino's Pizza

Here's a list of movies/TV shows we watched:

1. The Office (duh)
2. White Christmas
3. Christmas Story
4. The Santa Clause
5. The Santa Clause 2
6. Christmas Vacation
7. Sharknado 2
8. Lots of YouTube videos
9. Elf
10. The Maze Runner
11. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
12. Glenn Beck's Conversion Story
13. Seahawks football game

And finally, a list of games we played:

1. Signs
2. Things
3. The Name Game
4. Lucky Unders
5. Rummikub
6. Apples to Apples
7. Super Mario
8. Guitar Hero
9. Wacky Six
10. Pool (at the college)
11. Deal or No Deal
12. Who Wants to be a Millionaire

If you couldn't tell, those are some of our favorite things to do as a family: eat, watch movies and play games haha. That might sound pretty lame, but we have some really fun memories doing those things together and we'll cherish those memories for as long as we can. It was such a great Christmas break!

So here we are, all settled into our new apartment and loving Utah. Jordan's been busy working two jobs while I continue to set up our home and prepare to take the dreadful NCLEX in a few weeks. Our apartment is so stinkin' cute and we absolutely love it so I wanted to share some pictures with you all!

There you have it! 2015 is going to be a great year because happiness is a choice and we are choosing to be happy no matter what the year brings. Thank you to all of you for being a part of our lives. Friends and family really make everything worth it and I know we wouldn't be as happy without your friendships. Here's to another year of memories!

The End is Near

With only less than a week until graduation, I FINALLY have some time to sit down and update the blog. We are finally in the home stretch! Only two more days of class, a few more finals and then graduation on Friday! 

When I first started the nursing program, I thought it would never end. I'm pretty sure I cried everyday for the first week and wanted to drop out everyday for the last 15 months. It has added a LOT of stress to my life (including gaining weight and raising my blood pressure to stroke levels), and cost me way more money than I could ever afford. But even with all of that, I wouldn't change a thing. I have had some of the most spiritual, touching and life-changing experiences during the nursing program. I've met some of the most amazing people and made the best friends I could ever ask for. I have learned so much and gained a greater appreciation for the human body. I've become more confident in my skills and found one of my greatest callings in life. So yes, even though I've probably cried more times in the program than I have in my entire life, and even though it seemed a whole lot easier to just give up, I can finally look back on my experience and say that it was definitely worth all the tears and the stress. Here's to enduring to the end!

Last day of clinical for the program

Well, just to catch up on this year's Thanksgiving celebration, Jordan and I decided to make a surprise trip up to Washington. It had been three years since having Thanksgiving with my family so we figured it was probably time to head up there this year. The fun part was that only my parents knew so it was going to be a complete surprise for my sisters. Mom and Dad bought us a hotel room near Boise since we were going to split the trip up, and then we arrived in Richland the next day right before the girls got out of school. It was so great cause Mom had the video camera ready to record their reactions. Once they turned down the street, they saw our car parked in front of the house and started to freak out. But Sammie told them not to get their hopes up in case it wasn't us. However, as soon as they saw the Broncos sticker on the back of our car, they knew it was us and started screaming! Apparently Shonna and Ronnie jumped out of the car before Sammie had even parked haha. We saw them running and screaming up to the house and then they burst through the door to hug us. It was the best reaction ever! That's how you know your sisters love you haha. 

Then it was time to surprise Lydia. We all went to the elementary school and stood outside in the play field while we waited for her to get out of class. We were probably about 100 feet away from the door but we could still see her perfectly once she came out. She saw us, froze, and then took off running towards us. I started to head towards her and she jumped up in my arms. It was so sweet! To be honest, surprising my sisters was the part of our trip I was most excited about. I love love love my family and love it when I get to be with them. 

Thanksgiving was great. We cooked a giant feast, got out our China dishes, set up fancy tables, Skyped with family in Texas, Olympia and North Carolina and stuffed our faces. We played tons of card games and ate Grandma's delicious homemade pies, Later that night we braved our way to Wal-Mart to get a few necessities (like phone cases for Jordan's and my new phones) and watched lots of movies. On Black Friday, we went to a few more stores and saw Mockingjay Part 1 as a family. Such a good movie! Saturday was busy with helping a family move into the neighborhood, eating lunch at Shanghai, and having Juli and Trevor Webb over for homemade pizza. Sunday we left for Rexburg, but it wasn't too sad of a goodbye since we knew we would see them again in three weeks for graduation. And here we are only a few days away! 

 

So that was Thanksgiving for us this year. It was just what we needed and everything we wanted. Since then, we've been busy working and finishing school, going through boxes in preparation for moving, applying for jobs down in Salt Lake, Christmas shopping and enjoying time with family here in Idaho.

ward Christmas party

As a final thought, I just want to share my testimony on the power of prayer. At the end of the nursing program, we are required to take three exit exams and pass at least one of them to get our degree. So yeah, you could say there is quite a bit of pressure for those of us getting ready to graduate. Well we had to get a 62% on the first test to pass it and I got a 60% (that probably sounds ridiculously easy but trust me, it's not. They make the tests extremely difficult in order to give us an accurate idea of how prepared we are for the NCLEX.) Needless to say, I was very discouraged when I left the testing center. I cried, got depressed, lost motivation to do anything and felt like a failure. After talking to my parents, we decided we would put a lot more spiritual effort into the next one. I studied more, prayed almost every second of everyday, all of us fasted on Sunday (including my sisters which I thought was very sweet of them), got a Priesthood blessing from Jordan the night before and my dad even fasted during work the day I took my test. This test was 180 questions and I needed a 65% to pass. After almost two hours, I finally ended the test. As an answer to all of our prayers, I passed the test with a 70.6%! I no longer had to worry about graduation and getting my degree and it was such a relief. I know I couldn't have done it without my amazing and supportive family. I know it was their faith and positivity that helped me the most. I still thank God everyday for helping me get through it. I know Heavenly Father hears our prayers and is aware of our needs. As long as we are willing to do our part and put in as much effort as we can, then he will sustain us the rest of the way. This is true no matter how big or small our needs are, no matter where we are in life. There are many new and exciting adventures in the near future for Jordan and me and we can't wait to see where they take us!