Come Listen To Living Prophets

Mormons have been in the media quite a bit lately with the election and other events taking place in the country and around the world. With all of the questions surrounding what members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints really believe, watching General Conference would be a great missionary tool, where you can let President Monson and the Apostles do the talking. I am so grateful to have a prophet to help lead, direct, and warn me, and to testify of the reality and divinity of a living Savior, Jesus Christ. Just like in Biblical times, we need a prophet.
There are several buttons and banners available at lds.org that you can use on your blog to let others know about General Conference this weekend.

NCUR 2012

I volunteered for a bit today for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. It was a very fun and...interesting experience. Fun in regards to registering students from all over the place: Nepal, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Truman (wherever that is), and so on. There will be 3,200 students presenting their research from all over the country. The interesting part was the professors: there were some very odd ducks. Several people had registered incorrectly by putting their last name in the first name field and vice versa. There were two professors that I worked with in particular that were livid that their name tags were #1 "Not in the correct place of their last name." #2 Incorrectly printed. BECAUSE THEY REGISTERED WRONG. I told one gentleman that he must have typed his name in the opposite fields and his response was "That is impossible, I registered myself. I don't make mistakes." We found his card in my section since his first name was Mark and I was on M-P, he was incredulous and said that he simply must get a new one printed because he didn't want to be referred to as Udzella for the entirety of the conference. I told him that with a first name like Mark, he would probably be ok, while in my head I was thinking how grateful I was that I never had a professor that ignorant. Can you imagine having to argue an incorrect test question with someone who never makes mistakes? All in all it was fun though, there were students there who I am fairly certain had never been on a plane before coming to this Conference. There was another guy from back East who wanted to know if we had any "free trails that allow you to walk on the mountain" when we said to just walk up behind the campus to one of the three trailheads he was shocked, even more so when we told him that the trails were free and that technically you could hike where you wanted, on the mountain.

Take from the Rich

There were quite a few 'funnies' at church today. Our lesson for the 7 year olds was on preparing for baptism. I asked the bishop to come in and talk to the kids about baptism and a little about what to expect at their interview. What followed was a pretty entertaining discussion with the present 7 year olds. At one point the bishop talked about being honest and never commiting crimes. He asked if anyone had been to jail. Somehow the conversation turned when one of the girl's hands shot up in the air and said "Well sometimes it is ok like if you take from the rich to give to the poor." Bishop talked about how we shouldn't steal from anyone, but the girl stayed firm in her love of Robin Hood. The other one took place in sacrament. A couple talked about faith and both mentioned that they will be getting sealed in the temple this year. The girl got teary because she was so happy. Her counterpart mentioned it as follows: "Like my wife mentioned, we will be getting sealed for time and all eternity later this year......That's like......long."

Last Day

Today was my last presentation and my next to the last day of my Masters program. It has been a great experience. I will miss arguing over whether or not ultrasound or nuclear medicine would be the best option, or stressing over a bazillion and one presentations, late night chats on Wimba, or homemade how to's on Youtube for stats, figuring out which labs do what, understanding all of the new jargon with information systems, lots of papers, and our random lunch destinations between classes. Today being our last lunch opportunity together, we ALL went to Chuck-a-Rama, an old lady came up and asked what so many young people were doing at such a large table (table seated for 23). I told her that we were finishing up our Masters degree this week and had a large lunch break. Before the end of our meal together we had several of the early lunching elderly congraulating us and telling us way to go as we served up our salads and enchiladas. It was a lot of fun to be together and I couldn't have asked for a better group to go through this program with.

Real Salt Lake 2012

Last night was the Real Salt Lake Home Opener for the 2012 Season. It was such a fun night with JD, Sye, and Miranda. We started at Ganesh, which was delicious as always, and then went to the game. They had fireworks, cheering, new players, and the team looks so good this year. They won 2-0 against New York. It was definate bonus to see Thierry Henry play as well. He is nearing the end of his football career, but the Frenchman still has some impressive ball handling skills. He played for and was captain of one of my favorite football clubs in England: Arsenal. While the weather forcast said we would be getting soaked, we were just misted at the beginning of the game and the rest of the night was clear. It was a fantastic way to spend St. Patricks and wrap up Spring break.

Believe Real Salt Lake

If you believe then just stand up on your feet.

And shout it out Real!

Here at the riot the battle hymn's begun

We're here for RSL!

Twin Falls

JD and I had a wonderful Spring Break Adventure: Twin Falls Idaho. We loved attending the temple there-so pretty! We were inspired to go and see some of the waterfalls in the area. The single running fall of Twin Falls was ok, but Shoshone Falls was spectacular. We missed out on the petrified watermelon patch, another time I guess. I love road trips. I love being with my best friend, talking about whatever such as deciding whether or not hills are mountains, memories, or where we are going to school, and future decorating ideas. It was a fantastic day.

Prayer Rocks

Our primary lesson was on prayer this week and I have the nasty habit of waiting until the morning of to get everything together to teach our 7 year old class. This Sunday was the perfect storm of being Daylight Savings and 9:00 church=bad combo. I found myself at the Ogden River Walkway about 20 minutes before church digging through river bed rocks for my class. Mind you I was fully dressed in my church clothes and Sunday shoes. I told the class how much I loved them and told them the tale of getting their rocks for proof. One kid's response: "Did anyone see you?!?" Another kid's: "We get to keep these rocks!?!?" Answers: No, no one saw me. Yes, yes you get to keep the rocks you just decorated with metallic sharpies.

What will you be wearing?

I couldn't help but take a picture of this poster I found on the door to a beauty supply store. I have loved the marketing for this movie: crazy, creepy, and cool. What will you be wearing to the opening ceremonies? I am torn between Lux and Lush District 1 and Electrify District 5.

March

Jeremiah's

Emily is home for Spring Break and we have been having a lot of fun with her. Sunday we painted toenails and discussed deep and important questions such as "what would you do if you had 24 hours to spend $45,000?"-serious enough to use a calculater to track spending.

This morning we met at Christie's latest peanut-free restaurant that she can eat at without too much fear: Jeremiah's. It was so fun eating our delicious meals and having fun together, it will stink when Em goes back to the land of antelope and cowboys.

After a delightful breakfast we went to the BDO Outlet one of the most interesting places in Ogden. We all left with a little something, all of which was very random. It was a super way to spend the morning before heading off to a long afternoon of work. Not sure what my life would be like with my awesome, 'quirky', sisters.

You are APPROVED

Approval is a wonderful thing. I like when people like the work that I have done or feel I am competent enough to do or get something. In today's case I got a very important approval without having to make a single change: Institutional Review Board approval. This means my research for my thesis has officially begun. So for all you radiology people out there: PLEASE TAKE MY SURVEY!!!!! https:://surveymonkey.com/s/msrsmasters It is the big event that lasts all the month of March. Share with your other radiological friends.

Leap Day Madness

Once upon my time my parents went on a trip to Florida and had a grand time. One evening I was asked out on a date to see Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band in Sandy. I happily said yes and went. Upon arriving home past the time when carriages turn back into pumpkins I was startled to find that my siblings had decided to sleep over at Grandma's and had completely locked up the house for safety. I had to sleep on a bunk bed at the neighbors house among Prom dresses past after waking them up at 2:30 AM, and spent a morning WD-40-ing the keyhole of our door to make the only key available work.
Flash forward to Leap Day 2012. I was on my way to renew my CPR certification when I get a phone call that my coworker's son was sick and needed coverage. I agreed to cover as soon as I was done with my certification. I was walking back to my car and noticed a few missed phone calls from my sister. Come to find out my brother locked her out of the house while she was out, but the neighbor wasn't home. Guess where my dad was? Florida. Mom? Jamaica. Me? Trying to get to work. Everything worked out eventually but what a crazy day.
Oh and by the way, yes, I did wear blue scrubs and a yellow top to work to keep with Leap Day tradition too.
Happy Leap Day!!!

Patients

JD's Grandpa was in the hospital all last week for an extremely weakened immune system, pneumonia, and then atrial fibrillation. He is at home and doing much better now, but it was a long week for sure. It was an interesting perspective working all week and being able to look up at the room to see if he had been discharged or not. The window that is open with the light on is a view of their room from the office that I work at. It has made me think back to when I was on the same floor in a unit across the hall 1 1/2 years ago, and the blessings that came during that time when I wasn't doing very well at all. Modern medicine is truly a blessing to have available. It is amazing what can be done to save lives or improve them. I have made an effort to renew my goal of being empathetic towards all my patients, regardless of how pleasant they can sometimes be, knowing that the position of patient can be a hard one, this week has been a good reminder of that.

Date Nights

I got another moon, stars (planets), and temple picture! This time it is the Jordan River Temple. One of my favorite date nights is going to the temple in Salt Lake followed by Ganesh, the best Indian we have found in Utah. This evening was fun because we did sealings with JD's parents, aunt and uncle, and his great uncle was the sealer. His parents came with us to Ganesh so they were finally able to experience the deliciousness. It was a great evening!

Happy Birthday Emi!

Today is my sister's birthday. She is in the land of horses, antelope, boots, and cowboys for school and having a grand time. Em is amazing. She is super knowledgeable about all kinds of ''dumb' things from elephants, to dolphins, to just about anything that has ever had a documentary made or a NOVA special on because she loves them. She is a talented violinist and is working on the cello. She knows a lot about surfing/surfers, Switchfoot, cooking, cupcakes, Lord of the Rings, Alias, and occupational therapy. She is one of my very best friends. I love her lots and feel pretty lucky to have her as my sister. Happy Birthday Em.

An Afternoon of Nothings

Christie and I had an interesting President's Day. We did a whole lot of nothings. We were going to go bowling, but when we got to WSU, they were full. We ate lunch where she didn't buy the thing she wanted most. We didn't go bowling at the Junction because they were full too. We didn't ride the train to the Gateway because the train wasn't running for President's Day. We didn't go to the movies because when we got there everything we wanted to see had already started. We did have fun looking at all the furniture in RC Willey, but didn't buy anything. All in all it was a lot of fun, despite how little we actually did. A bonus is we do have $.58 shirts from a Gap Sale we happened across when going to look at furniture, so we have something to show for our efforts. Happy President's Day!

Web Cams

We are going to a few national parks in April and we had concerns about snow for one of them, but I stumbled across something I am now addicted to in an attempt to be prepared: National Parks webcams. I can watch Old Faithful, snow levels in Sequoia, Yosemite, snow at Crater Lake, and many other fun locations. I love it and I love national parks.

Drug Rep Dinners

We went to a drug rep dinner for Xarelto at the Timbermine tonight. I have decided that I like drug rep dinners. I learn a lot when I attend, I feel smart, and free food. This one was particularly fun because this is an anticoagulant medication which I know a thing or two about from personal experience and from my work using such medications for prophylaxis with our hip and knee replacement patients (give them the medication to keep them from getting a clot when they have surgery). It is also a bonus that both JD and I can go together since we are both in pharmacy. We discussed it would be practical to keep my lisence active so that when he is a pharmacist I can still join him to these splendid events.

Valentines

I love my permanent valentine and best friend. We went to Bombay Bites and had only appetizers which was delicious and fun. Before we left we were given a balloon, a rose, and free desert and appetizer. Flowers and a great letter were also included on this 'day of love'.

Dew Volunteer

I volunteered for the Dew Tour on Wednesday and it was one the greatest volunteer gigs ever. We were put over getting the athlete and sponser VIP bags together for the event. This involved hoodies, shirts, beanies, chapstick, and shampoo in a bag. It was super organized so we were able to do all of the bags fairly quickly. We helped move the bags and then the real fun began. We each got a VIP bag, a meal ticket, a buy one get one free lift pass, and a volunteer beanie from GOAL. It was indoors, fast, and fun. I hadn't been up to Snowbasin for years and it was fun seeing the changes that have taken place since it became a Sun Valley Resort too. Volunteering rocks!

Shower

Erin and I went up to see Susan for her baby shower. It was SO fun seeing her and spending the morning/afternoon going various places. I liked having Saturday off too.

Costco H'orderves

I have a habit of stopping by Costco on my way home from work on Thursdays. I usually get the same few items in rotation as needed: gas, bread, and milk. There is an extra reason for stopping by Costco too though: SAMPLES. Yes, I am one of those people who go around trying one of each sample with no intent to purchase anything more than my bread, or milk, or the gas that I already bought. Yesterday I was talking to my sister who works in the eye department and guess who comes up? My mom! She was there to eat samples too! I was very excited though I really don't think she taught me this habit. We proceded to each buy our one item but not before trying: beef sirloin, cheese, chips, BBQ chicken wings, salsa, chocolate pomogranite bites, and other assorted h'orderves most likely to get poor unsuspecting individuals to invest more money into their Superbowl celebrations, but not us, one item each and quite content after extreme light snacking.

January

Ok I am not saying I am a hater of the month of January, but it is definately not my favorite month. Yes, cool people have been born in this month, and New Years is a fresh start and all, but on a whole I am not in the cheering section for January. January is cold. January is full of days old dirty snow on the sides of the streets. January ends when light is just barely starting to hang around longer, so most of it is dark. January is just blah to me. My feelings for February are about the same unfortunately. March is a wild card every year, though less gloomy. Again, I am not a hater of these months they just don't do it for me is all.

Oquirrh Mountain

Our date night this week consisted of going to the temple. We tried Salt Lake first and were sad to find out it was closed. How wonderful to live in an area where there are three other options in the same valley when such misfortune comes! We decided to go to Oquirrh Mountain. It was a wonderful evening. I really like the picture I took when we were leaving because it has the moon and two stars around the temple (I know they are actually Venus and Saturn, but still, they look like stars) the second 'star' is getting cut off right above Moroni if you can't see it. Ganesh afterwards was delicious as always. While we were eating we were approached by one of the other diners. Turns out it was a fellow missionary from when JD was serving in India, it was fun watching JD and David catch up with life and reminisce a little.

Artie

This is a picture of Artie. He is my space heater and I love him a lot. Artie helps keep me warm in a rather cool basement, particularly during the winter time. Lately my favorite thing has been to take Artie into my bed room, turn him on full blast, curl up in a down comforter and read a book. I like Artie a lot.

Basmati

Some people like a candy bar or their favorite ice cream for a treat. JD's treat this week was a little different. I got him a 20 lb bag of basmati rice. When he got home from his mission he would comment on how weird rice was here compared to India and to be honest, I thought he was nuts. This has changed over the years as my pallate for Indian food has become more refined and I can now tell a very big difference between different kinds of rice, and basmati is the best. Erin came over tonight, we made a chicken curry and had it with the basmati and it was delicious, much better than the long white rice from the store.

"T" Benson

I have been reading the biography of Ezra Taft Benson this week and I am loving it. I am not usually a biography type of person, but this book is fascinating. There are so many neat stories, and just to see how life was when he as growing up is so neat and humbling. I love learning about his family, and Flora and her family, their memories of growing up and the things they liked to do. President Benson was my first prophet and while I can't remember any specific talks he gave, I do remember seeing him on the TV at my old house in Harrisville and sitting down to listen/watch him instead of playing with my toys. Super good book, I highly recommend it.

Red Rocks

We went to the University of Utah vs Utah State Gymnastics meet last night. I love watching gymnastics. It is crazy what these girls are capable of. I had a lot of fun playing with my new camera too. Super fun night, I want to go again already.

Head Bonks

I witnessed a terrible accident this week involving my sister where she used her head as a battering ram to open our front door. The end result was two skinned knees and a large goose egg on top of her head. She was acting a little weird afterwards and no one else was home so I got to spend the day with a sister that didn't know whether to cry in pain or laugh out loud at the absurd event that led to her battle wounds. I put neosporin on her knees, and found some ice for her head and knees, and kept an eye on her until my mom got home.
I love being a big sister to incredible and crazy sisters and a reserved little brother. They are all amazing and I love them a ton. Em is moving to Casper this week and I am going to miss her like crazy but I am so excited for her to have some new adventures, as long as those adventures don't include opening doors with your head.

Baptism

JD and I have the awesome calling of teaching the 7-8 year olds in primary. Part of this calling includes attending the baptisms of our kids. Poor Averee has watched all year as everyone else was baptized, but had to wait since her birthday was after Christmas. Today it was finally her turn. The Spirit was so strong in the meeting as her uncle baptized her and her great grandfather gave her the Holy Ghost. I am thankful for the Gospel, for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and for a loving Savior who has showed the way, through example, of what I need to do to return home.

Much Joy Merry Christmas

I have been deep cleaning things lately and stumbled across this bag that we received a gift in for our wedding. I just found it rather humorous. I too would like to wish you much joy and happiness now that Christmas is over.

Warmish Winter

I washed my car today...I was wearing flip flops, and a t-shirt while I worked too. Did you notice the date to this post? Yah, it is 55 degrees on January 4th, and that outing with my cousins? 57 degrees at nighttime. It is warmish in Utah this winter.

Goodbye Christmas

Rest in Peace Pete

Once upon a time JD bought a palm tree. Oh how he loved his palm tree too! He gave it a lovely spot on a windowsill where it received just the right amount of sun and JD gave it just the right amount of water. Pete flourished in his home with his friend JD. Then something terrible happened: JD got married and had to move! The confines of basement apartments did not bode well for Pete. He missed his windowsill and the sunshine. Slowly the color left Pete's once green fronds, one even fell off. The evil wife of JD told JD to throw Pete away one day. JD grieved his palm tree, but agreed it was for the best. JD took Pete outside to take pictures of his withered and wilted friend one last time, this happened to be on a lovely spring morning. Pete watched as JD went back into that horrible basement and came out with the mean nasty wife to go to church. As Pete waited for his date with the trash, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time...what could it be? Warm, bright, nourishing....SUN! Pete opened his fronds as big as he could and soaked in the sunlight, a tender mercy before his ultimate fate. Then something amazing happened: upon arriving home the mean wife pointed at Pete, "This is the end!" Pete thought, but no, the wife was pointing out that green was returning to the palm fronds and exclaimed with joy that Pete was not dead after all. "She isn't all that bad," thought Pete. JD was thrilled to have his friend back and left Pete outside all of the Spring and Summer and Fall. Pete would watch as the beautiful, intelligent wife, and his good old friend JD would run back and forth from church, work, school, and walks and life was good. Winter came and all was not well, the snow made Pete freeze and close his fronds, there was no sun but only cold. JD brought Pete inside and while warmer, there was no sun again. Pete began to wither once more. Another move came and went but things did not improve, Pete was still in a chilly basement with little sunlight. As soon as the sun returned and the air warmed Pete was placed outside once more, but it was too late. Pete had fallen into a deep sleep, one which not even sunlight could penetrate. A forceful wind blew off all but one of Pete's fronds and it was decided that it was time that Pete must be laid to rest. Today was Pete's funeral. We will miss him greatly, but his story will live on with us forever. Goodbye Pete.

Sleepover

We did our New Year's Eve festivities a day early this year. Sye and Jake came to sleep over. We played games and had a good time. I am not very patient with games that take as long as Monopoly or Risk and I gave prior warning. Instead, I created my mission to take over where I would want to live which lead me on the adventure of taking over the northern portion of Middle Earth. Once statisfied that the Shire was fully secured from bothersome trolls and orcs, I was done.

What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

I don't know what JD and I are doing yet, but this made me start wondering.....

Primos

We had a cousins outing that was so fantastically wonderful. I have the best cousins ever and we had a grand time galavanting around down town Salt Lake enjoying the lights, Crown Burger, a really strange sing a long, and catching up with what everyone is doing. We went swimming at the Little America afterwards. All in all it was a relaxing and fun evening. Hopefully another such gathering happens sooner rather than later.

Merry Christmas

We had a very merry and busy Christmas this year which involved going to three family gatherings and two gatherings on Christmas Eve. It was fun being with those families though and enjoying the food and presents as well. Some events included me getting a new camera, JD playing 4 Way Chess with his family, playing Christmas Deal or No Deal, Christmas at my home ward with my whole family, and various meals at different locations. We hope you had a happy day too!

Personal Summaries

The craziness has begun. My family has had the tradition of adding to a personal summary book since I was just little. This involves a few pages summarizing the year in pictures and written word. Some questions we answer are our favorite movie and book of the year, what we are doing at home, work, school, and church, the best and worst things of the year, and goals for the coming year. The first Christmas we were married our gift to JD's parents was starting this tradition with them. While I love the summaries, I now have to do one for my mom/grandparents Clarke/grandparents Hewlett, the Speth family, and my personal book. I am solely an annual scrapbooker for this tradition, so this time of year the living room is a mess and it is not surprising to find scraps of paper everywhere or to step on a brad that escaped its container. Thus far the Hewlett pages are done, just two more sets to go.