... and then we drove home.

Normal time it takes to travel from Las Vegas to Provo: 5.5- 6 hours.
Time it took us to travel that same distance on our way home from Thanksgiving: 9.5 hours.
It was a problem.

We even played, "I spy with my little eye a vehicle that has slid off the road". Who knew it could be quite so entertaining? By the end of the trip we had counted 22 cars and 3 semis. Crazy business.

At various stops there was hesitation to even get back in the car. Never have gas stations looked so inviting.

I was grateful, however, that we weren't these guys. Who rides their motorcycle in a snow storm? When we passed them in Fillmore Pass the temperature was in the 20's and it was snowing hard. Crazy.

Who knew I would ever be so happy to see one of these flying down the road?

I am grateful we made it home safely. It's pretty lucky that of all the people we knew who were caught in the storm and trying to drive back to Provo made it home safely and without incident. I just hope to never have to drive that drive in 9.5 hours again. What a long ride home.

Vegas for Thanksgiving

It was so nice to have a break. Even nicer that we got to spend almost the whole week with family! I love Thanksgiving, I may even go as far as to say that it may be my favorite holiday. I love spending time with people I love, eating delicious food, and spending time thinking of all the things I'm grateful for.

Like the public library. Or the fact that my husband is so diligent when it comes to school that he insists on going to the public library while we're on vacation so that he can "get some studying done". Clearly, I was a little bit distracted and chose to take pictures instead. And look at cookbooks. I love that public libraries have a large selection of cookbooks.
He was mad that I was taking his picture. Apparently he thought it was inappropriate to take pictures in the library.

Playing with the kids. More games of hide and go seek than I can count.

This is a picture from the next morning... I love that every time I took this sweet boy's picture, he has this same cheesy smile. Love it.

Kenzie girl. I'm not quite sure why she felt it was necessary to eat her donut while sitting on top of the kitchen table, but she's just so dang cute.

Luke and Johnny had Thanksgiving dinner at their dad's house, but before he left, Luke made sure to wave goodbye to Tommy the turkey.

What a stud.

The bread bear. It's a bear, made out of bread.

Doing a little dance.

There's that cheesy smile again.

On Saturday we went dirt biking with the Brandleys. We're lucky to have such good friends.

Little did we know that Chad's old roommate Kory was also going on the expedition. We love Kory.

Hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving!

A week like any other...

Its that time in the semester when things kind of seem to drag on and the thought of finals is looming ever closer.We both need a break. Thank goodness its Thanksgiving. Especially, with the blizzard that is suspected to overwhelm Provo tonight. In the meantime, we've kept ourselves busy. Here are some of the things we've been up to:

Hiked the Y with the Brandleys. It was a little chilly, but really not that bad. Its now covered with snow. Its crazy how much things can change in a week.

BYU Basketball vs. UT state. It was an awesome game and we love our cougars!

Gotta love Jimmer.Have to admit that I loved when the cow balloon started being passed through the crowd. Silly aggies.

Football game on Saturday vs. New Mexico- I made Y cookies. Sugar cookies always make the party. That and the fact that we dominated!

One more week in the semester down... only a few more to go and then its Christmas!

ICU clinical at U of U Hospital

I am always amazed at how fast a semester really flies by. It never fails that at the beginning of the semester I'm always a nervous wreck with the question, "How am I going to do it all?" I never know how everything is going to work out, how I'm going to work part-time, go to school full-time (15.5 credits this semester), do clinicals, sleep, exercise, and NOT go crazy. Ever since I've started nursing school, I've been saying that "I probably won't be able to work this semester, the schedule is just too insane", but every semester I've been able to make it happen and now I'm almost done!

This semester I've been studying ICU and Pscyh nursing. To throw another curveball into the mix, I was assigned to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake which is a one hour drive on a good day! I really wasn't all that excited for the semester or to be in ICU (I had heard horror stories about how hard it was), but it doesn't really matter what I was feeling because the semester has to start sometime. Now, looking back on the 8 weeks of clinical I completed at the University of Utah hospital, I am a teensy bit sad that it's over. Don't get me wrong, I'm relieved that I'm not longer driving up to Salt Lake twice a week and I don't have huge clinical assessment assignments, but I really did enjoy my time up there.

Side note: Just because I absolutely fell in love with the University of Utah Hospital, does not mean that I endorse and/or support University of Utah or its football team.

Before I know it, clinical isn't going to be a class anymore, it will be the real thing... I can't wait!