stuff

First off...Congratulations to Tim and Danizza Hymas, who got married yesterday! It was a beautiful wedding and reception.

- I have been picking up some extra shifts at work so we can afford christmas. I had picked up enough to afford Devry's present, so I started looking. I priced probably 300 tv's, and was somewhat discouraged, thinking I would have to work more just to afford it. Finally I went to Sears and found the PERFECT Tv for the PERFECT price. It is a 50 inch panasonic plasma TV. So I had Devry look at it to make sure it is what he wanted. He loved it and we bought it right there. I was planning on not letting him set it up until Christmas, but he insisted that it was pointless to let it sit in a box for a month and a half. He won. It is a great TV. I feel a little spoiled having such a nice TV...but I guess I worked hard for it right?

-I watched Twilight on Thursday night....well technically Friday morning. I went to the midnight premiere of the movie with Danizza and some of her friends for her bachelorette party. It was ok...but I was a little dissapointed. I think its hard to not be dissapointed in a movie that is from a book, especially when the book is so detailed, and the movie is crammed in 90 minutes. Some things about it were good, but other things weren't what I had imagined from the book. Hopefully they will have a bigger budget to make the next movie.

-Work is great! I start a night position on January 2. I get benefits from taking this position. I'm excited to have health insurance that might actually cover something!

- Devry is enjoying his new job. He is anxious to be able to be in the service department, but his boss in the lube bay thinks he is great. Its suprising how far showing up on time and actually doing your job with get you!

- I have struggled with my diet this past week. Ive still worked out regularily...but I didnt do so good on eating right. I didn't plan the week well and a lot of foods were missing from my house. I kept skipping my small meals...and then the next meal would come around and I would be so hungry I would eat things I shouldn't. What I have learned : I need to plan better and make sure I eat when I am supposed to otherwise I have a harder time sticking to the diet. I will do better next week.

Possibly Pregnant?

No I am not talking about me.......but I am talking about the other female in our house...Daisy. Devry texted me at work to let me know that Daisy was in heat. I texted him back to ask if he separated Daisy and Dash. His response... "No Dash is way to young to get her pregnant so there's nothing to worry about." I wasn't so sure and called the vet. Apparantly golden retrievers are usually fertile by 3-4 months. Well Dash is 5! I let Devry know, but neither one of us could go home to put them in separate pens till the evening. We do eventually want to breed them, but we were planning on it being next spring or summer. So we really don't know if she is pregnant....but I guess the possibility is there. Oh dear.

Its been a while since I posted anything! We have been so busy at work, it seems like I am called in every day. I finally have a weekend to get some things done.

Haloween came and went......since it really isn't a favorite holiday of mine I could have cared less really. Maybe I will like it more when I have kids to dress up or something. I worked that day, which was fun because everyone at work dressed up. I threw on my old lifeguard shirt and stuck some sunglasses on my head...same costume i've used the last 3 years.....very original. I was shocked at some of my co workers.....we had cat in the hat, thing 1 and thing 2, malifacent, witches, hippies, sincronized swimmers and many more. I loved seeing the pictures of our neice and nephews who dressed up as a robot, a cat, a boxer and superman. I am very proud to say that I made it through halloween and only had 2 cookies, one mini snickers bar and a handful of m&m's. I've been working at loosing some of the weight I gained from birth control (and being married to a twig who can eat whatever he wants, whenever he wants), and was very happy with myself at the end of the day because i didnt give into the temptation of eating tons of the candy and cookies and cakes people brought to work.

I finally talked Devry into helping me loose weight. It is a huge sacrifice for him because it means absolutely no junkfood in our house, and he cant eat in front of me after 6pm. I even have him eating vegetables! I did find out the other day that he buys junk food and puts it in his car to eat at work. I laughed at him for it...but I am just fine with that because I dont have to see it that way. He has been a great support and I am well on my way to reaching my goal. He even made me splurge and buy an eliptical. I have been running outside all summer, but the cold weather makes it hard for me to run. I was planning on waiting to get an eliptical for christmas, but when a local sports store had an unbelieveable sale, he pushed me to get one now. It has been great! I get home from work, and instead of being a lazy bum and sitting on the couch to watch TV, I make myself run on the eliptical. I do at least 30 minutes a day.. and then do situps and push ups. I can't believe how great I feel after I am done. I guess I forgot how much more energy exercising gives me. At first it was really hard to push myself, but once I got into the habit I feel like I am missing out if i dont run.

Besides working out more, I have been following a "diet" that my sister in law Rachelle introduced me to. Its called Michael Thurmond's six week body makeover. Its more of a lifestyle change than a "diet." Basically the program is designed around your individual body type, and chooses the foods that will help speed metabolizm. The best part about it...I don't get hungry. I Eat 5 times a day, with the right balance of carbs, protein and fruit and veggies so that my body gets what it needs. After I loose the weight I want, I can switch and do the "maintenance" diet, designed to keep you at the weight you want. Its been a lot easier then I expected, as long as I plan ahead. I find if i ever skip one of the meals, the next time I need to eat I am starving and have a harder time sticking to what I'm supposed to eat. If i plan right and have everything I need to follow the plan, I make it through the day without feeling hungry at all. I rarely crave junk or heavy carbs anymore. Im onto week number two, and although I have no idea if I have actually lost lbs, I am feeling so much better, so I know it is working. Check out the website to learn more about it! http://www.mybodymakeover.com/

Devry started his new job. They started him in the lube bay, where they change oil and stuff. It is where they usually start everyone. It has been going well for him. He didn't have to learn much, since he knew how to do everything already. His boss loves him because he actually shows up to work ontime and not hung over, and does his job. Apparantly people like him are hard to come by because he one of the only ones there like that.

I realized even more the other day how much I love my job. It was my 4th 12 hour shift in a row, and I had a patient that was induced at the beginning of my shift. I helped her through her labor all day, and she was finaly dilated to a 10 and pushing at 6pm, right when shift change is. The night nurse came in to take over for me, but there was no way I was leaving until she had her baby. It was so important to me that I see her through her delivery, that I didn't mind at all staying an extra hour to help her deliver and then get her comfortable afterwards. It wasn't even about the money anymore. I wanted to stay because I cared about my patient, and loved what I was doing. What a blessing it is to be in a career that I love, and even more that I was able to get into the position I want right away. How do people go to work everyday when they hate their job? I don't understand it, and dont feel like I ever will have to understand it because I love what I do.

Home.

Fall is here. Out of no where, the weather started getting cold, and summer dissapeared. I have always enjoyed the fall, at least I thought I did. I have begun to discover that I enjoy Nova Scotia's fall. Not Rexburg's. Rexburg just gets cold and turns brown. This fall is making me somewhat homesick. I have never really been homesick before. Of course I have missed my family, and home, but never homesick. It started when I saw a Nova Scotian musician, Natalie MacMaster perform at the school here. She plays celtic music, and just hearing the music reminded me of home. It was a very good concert, Devry even loved it! Then the weather started really changing, and I missed the vibrant fall colors from home. I jumped online to search for some pictures, finding the ones I've posted below.

Besides the beautiful colors. I miss the water. Nova Scotia is almost completely surrounded by the ocean, with lakes almost everywhere you go. It really is a beautiful place. Hopefully it wont be too much longer before I make it home again. I was sad to miss Canadian Thanksgiving. Although Thanksgiving isn't near as big of a deal in Canada as it is in the states, it is still a time my family gets together to celebrate. Hopefully I can make it home next year for thanksgiving.

Feast or Famine

Thats how it is on Labor and Delivery. Last week I was running mad because we had too many patients and couldn't keep up. I go to work this morning, and helped deliver one lady, then moved her to the post partum unit, and got put on cal because we had NO patients. Oh well, I needed a day to get caught up in my classes.

My little puppy isn't so little anymore. It hit me the other day that he is losing his "puppy" look and is now looking more like a "dog." Daisy and dash are best buds. They play all day together, and have to be right next to each other while they sleep. They also cause a lot of trouble together. Daisy knows very well that she is not allowed on the furniture. For some reason she thinks the rule only applies when we are watching. I find her on our front room couch quite often and she jumps down as soon as she sees me..before I say a word. I was doing some laundry and walked in the front room, to find her there yet again. I scolded her and went back to what I was doing. Next time I walked into the room both daisy and dash were up on the couch. Now he things its a pretty comfy place to sleep and will climb up there on his own. Why can't she teach him the good things she knows, like shake, roll over, and stay?

Other News..

I guess its pretty close to official so I can share. Since Devry has been able to line up a job for after graduation here in rexburg, and because I love my job so much, we have decided to stay around.. for a while at least. We are currently in the process of buying Devry's parents house. It is the one we live in now, and have been renting from them, so it wont mean any big changes like moving or anything. I will be doing some remodeling to the house to make it "mine." I am trying to pick out carpet and paint colors that I like, and we will start on it as soon as the paperwork goes through. I am wanting to get it done before christmas. Devry's cousin Scott lives down the street and builds houses for a living, so we are very lucky that he is willing to help us out some. I will be posting before and after pictures as I get things done. I am really excited about it!

Work, Work, Work.

I finally have a day off! I have been working the past 7 days in a row, 12 hour shifts each day, and I am enjoying being able to sit and relax for the first time in a week. I started in labor and delivery last thursday. I absolutely love it...but I am VERY overwhelmed right now. There are so many things to learn, and since it has been very busy, I haven't had any real structure in learning. One day I will have one type of patient, then later that day 5 women will walk in in labor and I will switch patients 3 times before ever getting a grasp on what I was trying to do. Luckily I am always paired with another nurse who will follow up with me on everything I do, but time for teaching is limited. Hopefully it will slow down in a few weeks so I can have time to breath and take in the things I'm learning. The one thing I have learned for sure....I have absolutely NO desire to EVER try to have a baby without an epidural! I have heard way to many women screaming and crying in the last week to ever want to go through that. I admire those women who are tough enough to have natural labor...but I am definately not one of them.

Devry is into potato harvest now, so he has been working very long hours as well. He found an internship with a local car dealership and will start at the beginning of November. We really lucked out with it because Internships typically dont pay very much at all, but this dealership wants Devry to work for them through the rest of school and then after he graduates, so they will pay him pretty decent. Of course his wages will go up when he graduates, but it is a whole lot better then a $3 an hour internship that ends in 3 months. This month will be his last working on the farm. He has worked there for almost 8 years. I am sure he will still help them out some, but hopefully from this internship he can start his career.

I bought tickets to go see Natalie MacMaster this saturday. She is performing on campus! She is a Nova Scotian musician who plays celtic music. I saw that she was coming and had to get tickets. Her music reminds me so much of home, and I wanted Devry to hear it too.

L&D

My boss approached me on monday at work and told me she is going to change my schedule around a bit. I was scheduled to continue to orient on the Mother baby unit for another 2 weeks doing night shifts. Then the plan was for me to start working, filling in the extra shifts until the end of the year. I was then going to begin orienting to Labor and Delivery. She told me she needed me in L&D sooner then she thought, so she is going to skip putting me on nights, and begin orientation in L&D this week. My first day is tomorrow. I am very excited, but kind of nervous at the same time. L&D can be a very high stress area, and I have a ton to learn.