Tis the season to be jolly! Fa la la la la la la la la!

So I don't really think I need to go into how busy I've been the last three weeks...me not blogging for almost a month does a pretty god job of that. I'm officially finished 2.5 out of 4 yrs. I feel bad for Gordon... he has finals til the 22nd. Poor sap. I've been in quite a festive mood lately and have spent most of my quality time this month with the oven (minus my textbooks of course). I've now done 5 dozen cookes, 2 cookie sheets of turtles, 2 dozen stuffed potatoes, fruit salad, caramel apple cheesecake (my own invention), gingerbread men tonight, and chicken soup at some point in the day. This is one of the things I love about Christmas...making goody plates for families. We've given away four, and have five plates to be given away. Gordon made a roast chicken and potatoes the other night, so I have to give him credit. It was in fact -make sure you're sitting down- delicious (and I don't even like roast chicken). Don't know how he did it, cause I was there to make sure he didn't sneak off to Safeway, but he did and I'm proud of him.

We've had a few good date nights this month. We decorated our IKEA Christmas tree, which has found a home in our kitchen somehow...This means that a) we can't open the oven door the whole way b)two of us can't really fit in the kitchen at one time c)only one person can sit at the table, so we have to eat in the living room using the piano bench as a table to eat together. But when I put those twinkling lights on, it's all worth it. We've been to Christmas concerts (some to watch, some to sing in), to see the Leg lights, drinking mugs of hot chocolate, watching old Christmas movies and baking up a storm. This is our first Christmas being married and it's been pretty magical so far. Can't wait for the next two weeks or forever Christmases.

Giddy for Harry...and Christmas!!

Well the last few weeks have been pretty busy with clinical and trying to get the primary kids ready for the primary presentation which is next week. Luckily I had Harry Potter to brighten it up...a lot. I absolutely loved the movie. It stayed very true to the book, with just the right balance between action and drama. Course Gordon thinks that there wasn't enough action, but I'm sure part b will quell that pretty quick. I was so excited I'd actually lost my appetite when the movie started because I got so anxious and nervous for all the things I knew were going to happen. I thought the acting in this movie was also a lot better and more believable in this movie from a lot of the characters, especially Harry. Most of the other movies I just laugh and how terrible he can be. But I ate it all up and then licked the bowl. I can't wait to see it again and I can barely wait for the second part.
I'm also so excited for Christmas. It's almost a month away (which is my starting signal for Christmas music on the Ipod and Christmas baking). The first Fri in Dec we're going to decorate our house and then Christmas shopping begins. I'm also glad that the snow waited until now to make an appearance. It held off for a long time. Now if it would stop being 20 below I'd be happy.

Halloween hooplah!

Halloween week was full of fun for me and Gordon. Friday was our date night, and I'd planned a halloween theme evening for us. We ate pizza, decorated sugar cookies with orange icing, carved pumpkins and then watched the Disney version of Sleepy Hollow and Frankenstein.




On Saturday our ward had trunk or treat. I brought the two little girls I was a nanny for this summer, and we had so much fun! Super costumes, super cars, super amounts of candy.

Nursing tests suck

I had a final on Tues for the theory block of my mental health semester. I dread these tests because you really can't study for them. Most of the classes are self or group-directed so studying basically means reading the entire textbook, and there are not very many notes from the teachers so you have no clue what's going to be tested. It's like a kinder surprise...you don't know what's in it until you open that thick stack of paper and try to hold back tears, fits of rage and snorts of derision as you realize there's only 23 pages to your exam. No wonder they give you 3 hours to do it. The really pitiful part of it is maybe 2-3 pages of test is viable questions from the textbook or things that you probably studied. The other 20 pages is questions that make my blood boil like "What's the nurses best response?" or "What is an appropriate intervention?". I suppose these are legit questions in most cases but they are brutal to answer for two reasons. The first being that they're usually preceded by some long-winded half page scenario about your patient and maybe only one sentence is relevant to the question. So you have to sift through all the superfluous junk and then choose your answer out of usually 2 incredibly ambiguous and vague choices (2 are usually incredibly stupid). Sometimes you even get 4 seemingly correct answers and are left with no way but eeny-meany-miney-mo to determine which ones right. I know everyone says that those questions are the same type on the CRNE (Canadian Registered Nurse Exam), but I'm pretty sure that given the magnitude of the test, the questions and answers will have been judiciously reviewed and won't be wishy-washy. The other reason these tests are so maddening is that two of the answers tend to be right. For example, in the classic case of "What's the nurse best response?" there can be two answers that are completely legitimate and you don't have enough info to make an informed choice. I usually play the scenario over in my head and end up thinking that I would say answer D. but followed by answer B. Or sometimes I would say answer B. followed by answer D. It's a catch-22 question and the problem with those is you never get any better at answering them, because it depends on the teacher(s) that wrote the exam. So if you know the teacher who wrote it, you might get a sixth sense of what the teacher would think the answer would be. If you don't...well might as well flip a coin.
Another thing that got on my nerves this semester is when our midterm was translated from the English exam to French. However, it was obvious that a dictionary wasn't consulted. I pay for the most expensive nursing education in Canada, and my tests aren't even legible because they're so riddled with vocabulary, structural and grammatical errors? I want a refund.

Date Night

Gordon planned a super fun date last week that I thought I'd share. First we walked around the legislature building. It's been pretty nippy, so my mittens and toque got their first outing of the season. We love taking walks together, maybe it's because we can actually breathe out of the 600 sq ft basement we have.


Gordon had planned to do a 50's date night, so in keeping with a diner theme we made homemade bacon cheeseburgers and homemade fries (hopefully my arteries forgive me), while listening and dancing to music of the era. After dinner we played the Newlywed game with each other, putting at stake a friendly wager where the loser had to give the winner a massage. Of course I won, but I don't enjoy massages too much so I wasn't super thrilled about getting one. If the wager would have been loser cleans the bathroom, I would've been much happier. We ended the night by watching a movie together, proving that if you put the effort in, cheap date night doesn't have to be boring date night.

Thankful for non-exploding toilets

Last fhe (no that's not a typo-it means family home evening), Gordon and I made a thankful jar...well more a thankful vase. We cut out different shapes and wrote what we were thankful for and why. Example of Gordon's: I'm grateful for eyebrow makeup or I'd giggle a bit much and get yelled at a lot. Explanation: I have to pencil in my eyebrows because they're too light and sparse. The first time he saw me completely without eyebrows...which is not common...he laughed. Most people make sure they lock the door before they leave the house. I make sure I have my eyebrows. In honor of Thanksgiving here's a list (among a bzillion) of things that I'm thankful for
family, nurses, the gospel, sun, chocolate, sleep, lysol, warm clothes out of the dryer, fuzzy socks, harry potter, music, books, blankets, Lion King, date night, dancing, running shoes
Unfortunately according to the law of opposition, in order for us to be grateful we have to experience things we aren't grateful for...like exploding toilets (story right after). This is a short list of things I could happily live without
onions,when you open a bottle of ketchup and it spits up on your fingers, the smell of baby sick, freezing wind, just missing the train...or having to run for it, cigarette smoke,clutter, slow drivers, headaches

So about the exploding toilet... This was probably my most embarrassing moment to date, and it definitely could've been a lot worse...I shudder at the thought. Since I don't get embarrassed by much, this was pretty monumental. I was getting ready to go for a run at the U of A track and had to use the washroom. When I went to flush the toilet it made a weird noise and nothing happened. Now I know you're thinking I plugged the toilet...but I sure as heck didn't, since I only peed! It was kind of like when you don't push the flush down all the way and nothing happens. And you probably know the kind of toilet I'm talking about too...the ones in most public facilities with the big metal handles that flush and are connected to the wall. Sometimes these ones are stubborn and you have to hold the flush down for it to go. So I stick my foot up to flush (cause I have a no touch technique when going to public washrooms), and hold down the handle. Everything appeared normal, the water went down, when out of nowhere BOOM water started spraying out of the metal part attached to the wall. And it wasn't a fine mist, it was like turning on a hose full blast.At first I stood there in shock while the stall was being efficiently flooded, before I had the presence of mind to run out, praying no one else was in the bathroom, because just like you they would have thought I plugged the toilet. I praised my wisdom in always using this bathroom vs the changeroom because it's always pretty deserted and I don't like crowded washrooms. Thankfully, I was alone, because unlike most public washrooms where you have the luxury of never seeing the other occupants again, the same people always use this washroom because we're all working out at the same time every week. So this could've scarred me for the semester. I wouldn't have been the girl who kills herself running 1400 stairs at the track, I would have been the girl who needs more fibre or the girl who recreated Noah's ark in the public bathroom. No thanks. Of course my backpack and outdoor shoes were on the floor so they get stuck in the nasty pool. Luckily I have trusty lysol wipes to back me up (notice they're in my thankful list). I wiped down my backpack in my shoes cause that's the best I could do at that point. Now the dilemma, do I tell anyone? If I was going to tell anyone I was gonna hide the evidence (aka slightly wet backpack and shoes), that it was me. Just because I flooded it doesn't mean I have to admit to it. The important part is that it's cleaned up right? Maybe that's not completely honest, but would you seriously go up to the grumpy, underpaid janitor and tell them that they had a miniature flood to clean up after you used the washroom and flushed the toilet? If you would, I respect you. If you wouldn't, well you're normal. It did get cleaned up...in case you're wondering. Moral of the story: No flood is a fun flood.

Hodgepodge

This post doesn't really have a theme. It's kind of just a mish mash of stuff that's happened the past few weeks. School's busy, but manageable. I'm starting to see mental illness everywhere though...I'm even having nightmares about people after me, or I have this feeling that I can't go to sleep because I have to do an assessment on one more patient. I really never realized how prevalent it is either in the media. I mean I knew it was, but until we started focusing on it and writing our term paper on stigma, I realized it was basically everywhere. I'm trying to prepare myself emotionally for what I'll have to deal with, including reading a ton of books. I just finished reading a book written by a psychiatrist who treated a woman with multiple personality disorder. It was a mind boggling book and incredibly interesting, but most of all it helped me to see communication techniques that the psychiatrist used to help his patient. I think some of those will come in handy next month. Starting this semester I was pretty apprehensive and almost in disbelief about some things I could be dealing with and whether I would be able to handle them. Now I'm starting to take on a different perspective...of determination to do my best to help in whatever situation, and to not blame myself if things don't go as I planned. It's definitely going to be a steep learning curve.
Amidst school starting, Gordon and I have really been trying hard to make time for each other. The weather's pretty nice here now, so we've been going for walks, and we even watched the sunset in the river valley on Friday. I've never watched a sunset before, not for the duration of it anyway, and there was something about it that was so peaceful. The sun is consistent. It rises and sets in constant motion, and in this world of chaos and distraction, I think we can all draw comfort from a little constancy.
On a funny, but slightly annoying note, Gordon's been sick for the last week or so which means nightly snoring for me. His snores actually penetrate into my dreams and become different things...last night it was a machine gun, which I didn't like so much. He has a variety of different snores and they all seem to take on their own life in my subconscious. Then I wake up, and wonder why I'm still hearing that familiar sound from my dream, and realize it's Gordon snoring. Then I debate whether to poke him or not, but I've become quite good at going to sleep with him snoring, so I usually don't. Sometimes I'll actually bounce the bed a little, because it'll wake him up just enough for him to turn over and stop snoring without fully waking him up. And plus then he doesn't get mad at me for waking him up...
This weekend was (kinda still is), General Conference. Just in case you're not familiar with the mormon terminology, it's a meeting broadcast almost everywhere in the world via satellite, where the highest leaders of our church (who are unpaid btw), speak to us about topics that they feel are important like strengthening marriages and homes, temples, love and service etc. Basically it's a big weekend learning about what we can all do to be a little better, stand a little taller and shine a little brighter. It's also about learning what the Lord wants us as members of the Church to know, and we believe He communicates this through our living prophet President Thomas S Monson, and his counselors. It's my personal testimony that they love us, love the Lord, and that they are called by the Lord, just like prohets in ancient times, to speak to us about the Lord's will for us. If you have any questions hop on over to lds.org or mormon.org. These sites will give you correct and accurate information about our beliefs. And of course, don't be afraid to talk to your mormon friends. We love questions. Also visit you tube and search Mormon messages for inspirational videos, no matter what your religious beliefs. We all need a little hope in today's world.
<3

Mental...advisory: sensitive topics discussed

That word pretty much sums up everything about school right now (which I only have four semesters of until I'm done!!)... Our focus this semester is mental health and psychiatry. So our patients will be mental, the unit will be mental, all of our research/theory is based on mental health, the people in the library books I'm reading for clinical prep are mental, and I'll probably be mental by the end of the semester. Now I don't want to be irreverent about mental health/illness or offend anyone if they don't like what I say. Despite what some may believe, they are very real illnesses that very real people suffer with, some silently, and for which there exists very real help. At the onset, in my opinion some of these illnesses are over medicated or medication is given without any complimentary therapy, but in many instances the medication is necessary and helps the individual comply with treatment. I'm kind of just presenting my point of view so that I can do a post at the end of the semester and see how my opinion's changed. It's definitely going to be a very different, very intense clinical. With a patient suffering from a physical illness, you have the condition and in my mind I know many of the things I have to watch for. For example if I was given a patient with diabetes, I know I would be doing probably be checking blood sugar levels, I would be monitoring their food/snack intake and signs of high blood sugar, and signs of low blood sufar with their medication. And although physical illness is never 100% predictable, 99% of the time it's got a protocol, or set of general rules it follows. With mental illness, everything gets a lot trickier, because although the same condition may affect 5 different people, there are infinite ways the brain can influence their perception and cognition and thus make every person's illness very unique from the next's. With the body if you can't see what's going, you usually have values from blood work, diagnostic tests etc. that you can review to know what's going on. With a mental illness the biggest way you're going to get information about what's going on in their head, is their telling you. It's so much more subjective, and knowing what to do with that information, how to treat it, how to guide a conversation, is something essential we'll need to know, but be hard pressed to learn in six weeks. The other thing is, not having been through mental illness myself, it's hard to understand why a person would think the way they do. For example, why they would want to commit suicide, or think they're God/Satan, or wash their hands 30 times a day... Because it's not logical, and doesn't make sense to most of us, or even scare us, we ignore it or shun it. People with open mental illnesses are stigmatized, judged and often abused, and I feel like changing that, is a very big part of what I'm there for. I may not gain enough experience to really help these people the way they need to be helped, but I can certainly help them by defending their rights and by helping raise awareness that these people are not their illness. When we have a family member with cancer, or diabetes, or high blood pressure we don't usually look at them and see their disease. It's not how we define them, and we don't usually hold it against them. It seems like sometimes we act as if mental illness is someone's fault. I'm pretty sure these people would tell you they'd much rather diabetes or high blood pressure over what they have. I'm not going to lie. I've felt all those things at one point or another, but I'm doing my best to put all those thoughts and feelings aside now. Patients know when you're judging them, and if the people responsible for taking care of them are judging them, it would look like a pretty hopeless world out there. 1 in 5 people in Canada will experience mental illness in their lifetime, and it really can happen to anyone. Think about that for a minute and how you would want to be treated if it were you...I know I have been. Please stay posted (no pun intended!) and follow me as I learn about mental health and then as I do my best to care for these people who could be me or you one day.

So long summer...

It feels like summer vacation just started for us. I worked until Aug 25th, and then we decided we needed more than just a weekend rejuvenation. So we planned a two week trip to see our families before we went back to school. We spent a few days in Calgary with my family, then went to Cranbrook for a week. The weather was less than welcoming...only 6 above at 10 am most days, and rain wasn't a stranger. I think we had maybe two days where it hit above 20 and we took full advantage of them. We got to do a few hikes while we were there, and I was glad to see that my efforts in staying active during the summer weren't in vain. I could run up some of those hills. Since I used to be about 3-4 pant sizes bigger than I am now, and about 4 inches shorter, I'm gonna put a plug in for exercising. I know first-hand how beneficial it is in SO many ways. Besides being healthier, it's a great confidence booster and stress reliever. There were so many times when I would just run to clear my head, and after my run I was way more energized to face what I had to face. I also know how hard it is. It's called working out for a reason...it's work. I'm not one of these girls who can eat whatever they want and never see any of it reappear. Although I am more lenient now, than I was when I was trying to lose weight, I still have to be conscious of what I'm putting into my body and how much exercise...and SLEEP I'm getting. It's hard. I know. There are so many times when I have to spend half an hour or more mentally psyching myself up to work out, or sometimes I'll just tell everyone I'm gonna go for a run, so that the shame of not doing it will force me to do it. Sometimes I'll even start a workout and my body is just not responding and I stop. Yes sometimes I feel guilty that I quit, but you have to listen to your body. As long as you push yourself a little every time, there's no need for you to go until you feel like you'll collapse. You just have to stick with it. You can't quit. I've also seen firsthand the effects of a poor lifestyle later on in life. Almost every patient I took care of had type 2 diabetes (usually related to obesity) and most people don't know how many complications that leads to. I kept thinking about how sad it was that some of these people could have avoided this if they just took care of themselves. My mum's philosophy is "If you take care of your body now, it'll take care of you later". That's become my motto. Just start small, and stick to it. It's like life. You will make mistakes, you'll eat too much one day or work out too little one week. Don't be hard on yourself, we all do it. Stick to it. Anyway that's my little rant.
Back to the hikes... our first one was to an abandoned mine shaft in the mountain, which you could walk through. It was incredibly dark and Gordon kept reminding me of how much rock was on top of us...Gee thanks hun. Obviously we made it out alive (it really wasn't that sketchy). The second hike was called Jumbo Pass and it was 13 kms long, but had an incredible view of the mountains, and was a gorgeous hike on the way up. Gordon and I hiked it with his dad, our friends Tom and Jenice (see post about Winnipeg), and of course our fearless leader Buzz (Nish family dog). It was so nice to be out in the fresh air, especially when Mr Sun decided to come out and no clouds showed up. The view from the top was beautiful and put me in awe of the Lord's creations. I just wish He would have created that mountain a little less steep...not because I had trouble going up, but because I had trouble going down. So everyone who had a tough time up got their revenge by leaving me in the dust on the way down. On the way up I get to rely on my muscles. On the way down I have to rely on my balance and my joints, both of which are not in tip top shape. Even though my balance is terrible, my recovery is great. Although I'm always tripping over things, or stubbing my toes, or slipping and sliding, I very rarely fall. This was no different, except for that I had to do it for 6.5 km. Every five steps I was wobbling and thought for sure I was gonna fall down the flipping mountain. My ankles and knees we rolling all over the place and the last thing I wanted was to resprain my ankle. But thanks to the abundance of tree branches that didn't break when I grabbed them, I managed to make it down without falling. Happy day.
Other highlights of the trip were watching Gordon play demolition derby in the backyard with the bobcat (at his mum's request). I was all for helping until I almost got a rock dumped on my feet. We also played Risk, where at 1:30 in the morning, I became the victor against my brother-in-law. This was much to Gordon's dismay, since he was the one who taught me to play and I knocked him out first haha. It was his fault for starting to conquer the world a little too quickly. He complains that I made everyone gang up on him and it wasn't fair. Well what was I supposed to do, let him take over the world? He was also the one who was keen on alliances and table-talk. Guess he regrets teaching me about all that now. So the grasshopper has outplayed the Sensei. He's calling me a jerk as I write this. He forgets that I learned how to play most games from my dad, a strategic mastermind and I was his only pupil. We used to play Scrabble every Sunday, until I started beating him and then he didn't want to play anymore. It does suck when no one wants to play games with me...that's what I let 'em win sometimes (wink! wink!).
We also went horseback riding for a few hours on the trails behind Gordon's house. Gordon rode cyclops (his real name's Gobe, but he only has one eye, hence cyclops) and I had boring two-eyed Brandy. She was sure in a lazy, stubborn mood. The stubborn I could relate to, the lazy was driving me bonkers, as was her going downhill sideways technique. I tried to make the ride easier on her by going on the road, where there were less rocks and less excuses to trip, but she refused to pick up her feet. I was told she's just like that, and really needs a good spurring to listen. I suppose it might sound a little insensitive but she is a trained horse and needs to learn to go where she's supposed to go. Sometimes on the road she would keep trying to cut across and follow Gordon, when there were other cars coming. It was like a dragging a kid somewhere they don't wanna go. Except kids can't usually overpower your tugging and go where they want anyway. I was just happy to get back home and give my bum a break.
I also did some handy work with Gordon and Uncle Steven trying to set up Grandma's outdoor garage at her new house. Course, when we took it down from the old house, no one bothered to pay attention to how it was assembled. So all we had was a pile of metal poles that somehow fit into one another, an ice cream pail of screws that were supposed to hold said poles together and a big canvas for over top. Well it took us about 20 min of playing musical poles, we decided we needed some type of instruction manual. So after consulting the wise old web, Gordon drew a diagram of the tent and we started to put it together...the right way. Despite having the handy dandy picture, it was not smooth sailing. You know those kids play tents that are collapsible, and you fit the plastic poles into one another and they're connected by an elastic inside the poles? Sometimes you put a part together and another part pops out? That's basically what we were dealing with. Except for if one of the poles popped out and you were standing in the wrong spot... This meant we had to place ourselves in the gaps, so that if the roof caved, we wouldn't be clocked by a rod. It also meant that while Gordon and Steven were putting the poles and screws in, I was running around holding joints and poles together making sure they didn't pop out and impale one of us. And to make matters exceptionally better, while we were putting the canvas on, the wind really picked up, so we're trying to hold it down, while tethering it to the poles. Believe it or not we got the lion's share done, and I vowed that if she moved again, I would burn that thing to the ground to make sure it wouldn't move with her.
We also got to have dinner with my Grandma and Grandpa which was really nice. Grandma showed me a huge family history binder that was given to her with tons of my swedish ancestors in it. Then she showed me a 6 page list of famous people we're related to through my grandpa's grandpa. Among the famous are Jane Austen, Joan of Arc and Jacques Cartier (who was our 19th great grandfather). We also got to listen to stories about some of our ancestors, like how some would get assigned new names in the army because their last name was too common. After that night, Gordon caught the family history bug, and it almost replaced his video games in terms of time devoted to it. He's gone back to the 1600s on some of his lines and I won't be upset, if it continues to replace video games for....EVER.
We were able to spend a few days with my family before heading back to Edmonton, which I always enjoy. My family can always make me laugh, and I love being with them. My mum and I get to work out together, which means sweating our brains out doing Jari Love's 70 min cardio intervals and weight training workout. My mum's a TANK and she motivates me to push myself. I'm proud to say that after 3 months I can finally do the whole video with the 8lb weights. That might not sound very remarkable, but since I could barely get through the first 20 min with 5lb weights, I'm pretty happy. We also end up playing a lot of games together, where my dad usually tries to brainwash everyone into attacking me and then he ends up winning. Most of us have learned to resist his conniving ways, but every now and then he pulls it off...I'm not sure how, but he does. The highpoint was Gordon and I beating Devon and her boyfriend and my mum and dad at Taboo. You would think the people who've been together the longest would win....but they're just so opposite, they're minds are on two different tracks. It was pretty hilarious watching them play with each other. I hope Gordon and I can still kick butt 25 years down the road.
Alas summer ended, but the year to come looks incredibly bright :)

Our new additions to the family

Well for those of you who are keeping up with the blogging, you know that our poor reliable car died. It's possibly in the middle of being resurrected, but that's still to be seen. We then acquired, with the financial help of Gordon's amazing parents, a new little saturn ion, that was like brand new (even had the new car smell). In keeping with the tradition of Harry Potter naming, the new car has been called Snape and we're excited to welcome him to the family. We're hoping to have him as our first family car for when the kids start rolling in (a few years still)...well hopefully they don't roll out cause that'd be pretty painful. Anyway it's only had one glitch to fix and we're hoping it'll live up to Weasley's reputation (he was an 18 yr old car with 230 000kms on him).
The second addition to our family was temporary but still left a big impression on Gordon and I. His name was Oliver and he was a wedding present for Gordon's high school friend. Unlike Snape, Oliver is a living thing. He was an orange, kitten that was 7 weeks old but full of spunk. When she told us she wanted a male orange kitten, i thought she was kidding. But after several times of double and triple checking, we were sure it's what she wanted. Now for all of those who don't know me, our only pets consisted of newts, which only needed to be fed and cleaned once a week. I'm not an animal person, my family aren't animal people and I was not looking forward to taking care of him, especially cleaning up after him. On the other hand, Gordon's always been an animal person, his family are animal people (they have 2 dogs and three cats). But we found a cat for free online, and I figured it was only for a few days, so how bad could it be. Well let me tell you, the worst part was giving him away. As soon as I saw him in our living room my heart melted. He was playful and spunky, but also cuddly and cute. He was only doing his business on paper so my biggest worry of a poopy smelling house was calmed. He just pattered right into my heart. Of course he wasn't perfect. He did pee on our bed one time, which prompted a swift few loads of laundry and smell removal, but it was impossible to stay angry at him. The big surprise was when we brought him to my family's before we headed to BC. My parents had been adamant about him staying outside and not making a mess of the house. Well that was short-lived and soon he was prancing around the house like he owned the place. He was even allowed in the living room...we have to wash our feet to go in there. So you can imagine how cute he was, that he had this effect on my family. This was the closest thing to a kid, Gordon and I had. We both had to take care of it, to share the responsibility, to sacrifice our time for it. Maybe that's why I got so attached. It's in my nature to take care of things. I thought it was mostly people, but I guess it applies to animals too. And since my job as a nanny was coming to a close, I needed something else to take care of to fill the void. Well the day of reckoning did come. I had shed a few tears...that's my story anyway... over the kitten leaving, but I knew deep down he'd love being on a farm and be able to run around and play with other animals (once he got over his dog fears). I guess true love is knowing when to let go and wanting the best for those you love. That's why parents let their children leave home (well at least my parents, some parents might be happier about it). Who knew such a little creature could end up meaning and teaching so much?

Roadtrip!!

So Gordon's childhood friend Tom was getting married and Gordon got the honor of being his best man. This meant we were taking a roadtrip to Winnipeg, a place neither of us had ever been, let alone driven to. I mean what's in Winnipeg really...? Well except for crappy weather, crappy parking and crappy one way streets. Never the less we loaded up the car with books, junk food, maps and necessities for camping out in the car (neither of us can stay awake long enough to drive more than 4 hours without a break). We had a false start, since Gordon forgot his wallet, as per usual so we had to drive back home and get it. THEN we were finally on our way. Really there wasn't much to report about the drive. It was pretty darn boring, so we took 2 hours shifts driving. One thing I didn't get was why it was mostly a one lane highway. You would think the Trans-Canada would at least be a two lane highway...I mean it's not like it's a main road or anything. We saw our fair share of grass and roadkill...mostly skunks and a few porcupines. We stopped in Saskatoon for a bite to eat, although we had considered posing as truckers in Lloydminster to get the trucker's discount at Pizza Hut. We decided to go for the all you can eat buffet instead. Then on with the driving. We drove a total of 12 hours that day and finally decided to pull into the next nook after we passed the Manitoba border. We pulled into some little town of the highway and just like campers, brushed our teeth outside in the grass and went to sleep in the car. Gordon sleeping in the front and me in the back. Gordon had to be there at 8 in the morning to get his bachelor party golf game, and we were still 4 hours away so I was only allowed to sleep until 3:30 before I had to hit the road. I could only drive for an hour because I got really tired. So I made my poor husband drive for the next 3 hours until we made it to Winnipeg. We decided before the trip to cheap out and book a hostel, so I was hoping it wasn't some dirty old shack, but just in case I brought a whole set of bedding. I was not gonna sleep in a dirty bed no matter how much money I was saving. Once there, the first thing I did was pulled back the quilt and inspected the bedding, followed by smelling it. Thank my lucky stars everything was clean, we even got our own bathroom. Poor Gordon had to get ready for his golf game, and had no time to sleep. I got to go to sleep right away, lucky me! I slept for about 3 hours then decided that I might as well get out and walk around the city since most of our time would be sucked up by wedding stuff and wouldn't leave much for sightseeing. It reminded me so much of England, with the overcast skies, the small streets, the green, and the old buildings. I enjoyed a walk to the Legislature building, but of course Gordon had the camera, so I just had to take mental pictures. Then I walked along the river to where the Saskatchewan river splits into the Red river and the Assiniboian (sp?) river. It really wasn't much to look at and the clouds were looking ominous so I decided to turn back. Sure enough about 15 min away the rain started and soaked me pretty good. Gordon was just beat when he got back so we stayed in until we went out for supper at an Italian place, before the rehearsal dinner and wedding cocktails (this giving you a hint of how swanky the wedding was?). The rehearsal dinner sprang the thought occupied my brain all the time. "I'm so glad I'm already married". Just the planning involved was insane. I must admit, I felt pretty important going to a cocktail party...that's stuff you only read about being before fancy parties. It was an early night for both of us. Saturday was the big day. I thought the string quartet during the ceremony was quite a nice touch. It reminded me of our special day, like weddings always do and probably always will do. Thank goodness the ceremony was already planned for us. It was really nice that they chose to have a religious ceremony though. In my opinion, too God has been taking out of far too many things, especially things that He instituted in the first place. After the wedding I went to go help with the centerpieces and set up for the reception while Gordon was off doing his duty as the best man. Well let me tell you, it was like a rose garden exploded everywhere. Everything was so elaborate and particular, we even had a layout of the 8 different tables with a combination of shapes representing the centerpiece arrangements. And then there was a legend for what each of those shapes meant. After three hours of centerpiece assembly, my job was finished and Gordon and I took a quick break before the reception started. The hall looked beautiful, I just wished the centerpieces wouldn't have been so big so as to block my view, and then I was sitting right beside the window when it was 10 above outside. My nose started running, it was so cold. The bride, being a devout vegan, had planned a vegan meal. I'm a self proclaimed carnivore so this wasn't looking too hot for me. I didn't know how Gordon would fare either since he needs his share of meat to stay full for more than 2 hours. Well the meal was passable minus the "beef" wellington which was a little too unbeef-like for my taste. However, the vegan cake was great. Despite the little glitches here and there, the dancing made it all go away. That's probably what I look forward to most about receptions. I had a blast at the dance at ours, and since I graduated from the youth dances and then the YSA dances, I haven't been dancing in a while and I sorely miss it. So I broke out my moves and tore up the dance floor, backed up by years of Mormon dancing experience. Gordon was exhausted so we made an early exit, but not before having a dance competition with the groom's parents (where we totally kicked butt btw, the shopping cart always wins). Sunday was an adventure. We went to brunch at the hotel (last of the wedding events) before heading off to church for Sacrament mtg. Our plan was to drop off the tuxes (which were Gordon's job to dispose off) and head on home. Well plans are made to be screwed up I suppose. We had a heck of the time finding the church, had no idea where to drop the tuxes, and then one of the groomsmen called to tell us he'd left all his ID and wallet in the pocket of one of the tuxes. Although this seemed to be a big annoyance, it proved to be a tender mercy. We went back to the hotel to drop off the wallet and said our goodbyes again. We started up the car...well we didn't actually because the car didn't start. Not even the lights came on. I've always bragged about how reliable my Weasley is, and how it's never given me trouble, so I was feeling pretty betrayed. So we phoned up to the hotel and one of the groomsmen came down to take a look at it while I sat in the car praying for a miracle...oh yeah and it was pouring rain. A dead battery seemed to be the culprit, so I headed back into the hotel while Gordon headed to crappy tire for a battery. This was really getting to be an expensive trip. After the new battery was installed, the car started so I ran down hoping to get out of there before anything else happened. Soon as we pulled out of the parking lot, I noticed the engine was really quiet, which is usually good...except for in my car. We turned out of the parking and coasted onto the street with a dead car...again. But there was no turning back, so we turned on the car again and realized that if we kept the engine revving the car wouldn't die. So this made for a fun drive as we had to shift into neutral at every red light and revved the engine to high heaven. We said a prayer and moved onto the highway. We ended up stopping in Saskatoon and parking in a shopping complex beside the Tim Horton's, with an auto parts store down the street. That way, if the car didn't start we'd have food and could take the car in. The guy working the night shift probably thought we were crazy, since I walked in at 12:30 am with my pjs and toothbrush and then 5 hours later walked in for breakfast. Thank our lucky stars the car started and we made it home. The last voyage of the beloved Weasley.

A month of updates... Grandma and Grandpa's 50th

So it's been a while since I've blogged. Probably because we've been so busy doing stuff to blog about. But since Gordon and I both just finished work, and are finally enjoying a vacation, I should have time to catch up on the big things that have happened. First off was my Grandma and Grandpa Jolie's 50th wedding anniversary. I think that's a pretty big accomplishment for anyone to lay claim to. They have 8 kids, 25 grandkids and 2 great grandkids and though we're not always one big happy family we are big and we are usually happy, but most importantly we are family. The Lord has blessed us so much in being able to have families and leave legacies of faith and love, which is what my grandparents have done. They even helped bring some families into the gospel, which I didn't know about before. They are hardworking, loving and completely dedicated to their family. They are strong examples of faith and commitment to the gospel and I'm grateful to be a part of that legacy. It just goes to show that as long as two people love and honor each other and are willing to put in the work it takes to make a marriage work, that it IS possible to be married for 50 years. I'm blessed to come from a family where a tradition of marriage has been kept. My other grandparents were married for just over 60 years before my Gran died, and my parents and in-laws both celebrated their 25th wedding anniversaries this year. Gordon and I are committed to doing our best to follow in their footsteps.

Nish family reunion and Sushi

Last weekend was the ever talked about annual Nish reunion in Cardston. Now I had already been warned that these were full of crazy people and crazy happenings and that I might not want to be a Nish afterward. Sometimes I think everyone forgets how crazy my family is too...in a loud-in-your-face-tell-all-your-secrets kind of way. Despite all the warnings, I'm still married to a Nish and had fun at the reunion (I'm not sure if I'm supposed to have fun or if I'm supposed to regret being in the family afterward). It was great to meet more of Gordon's family (well the ones he knew anyway), and I even met people who knew my grandparents (they are pretty famous after all) and told me things I didn't even know about them. It was also gracious of the rain clouds to leave us alone for the better part of the day. My personal favourite part (besides stuffing my face full of junk food...which I try and avoid on a regular basis), was the karaoke. Watching family members get up and sing the golden oldies was great, watching them to dance the singing was even better. Gordon convinced me to go up but regretted it on the condition that we sang disney. And of course we had to sing from my FAVORITE movie of all time: The Lion King. I figured he already sang Can You Feel the Love Tonight to me at our wedding in front of 200 strangers, so how hard could it be to sing in front of 50, especially when it was all in good fun? In the end I ended up convincing Gordon to get up with me and we sang "I just can't wait to be king". Luckily years of listening to Lion King to fall asleep and to make roadtrips paid off and I even did all the speaking parts. Haha bet Gordon won't ask me to do that again...
Now to this weekend. Gordon and I made a goal to have a date night every Sat that was PLANNED and not just G:"what do you want to watch?" M:"I don't know what do you want to watch?" G: "[insert 80's sci fi movie or any high action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger]" M: "No I don't like Arnold." G: "Terminator is SO cool. Well what do you want to watch then?" M: "I don't know. Not Arnold." And the conversation continues while we search IMDB and rotten tomatoes until we find a movie that we can somewhat agree on but no one's really excited about and that's meets Nish (e.g. Morgan) family standards for cleanliness. Yeah "date night" (if you can even call it that) really sucked. So we decided to step it up a notch and I took the first week to plan. Gordon loves sushi but going out to all you can eat for $50 a pop doesn't really make the pocket book happy. Instead I decided to surprise him by looking up some recipes and by trying to make it ourselves. I drew three clues out for him to open throughout the day (a fish, the Japanese flag, and seaweed). the light bulb went off after the first, but only about 3 hours after he opened it. I'm not gonna lie, I thought he would need at least the second clue to get it. Now if you ever wanna make sushi, let me say this loud and clear. Save yourself the hassle of finding an asian supermarket and just go to Safeway. It's cheaper and you can read everything on the packages. It also has everything you'll need. And no Superstore doesn't cut it. They have sushi mats but NO seaweed and NO sushi rice. And people wonder why I call it stupid store. Anyway after the hassle of driving all over the place to get the stuff, we finally got it together and tested out our sushi making skills. To our surprise, it's actually not that difficult, and doesn't taste too far off restaurant style. It's also half the price of all you can eat sushi which earns it's place in my books as great date idea.

Canada Day Weekend

This weekend was BRILLIANT. Not only did Gordon and I only work 3 days this week, but we got to spend time with both of our families. Thursday we had a Canada Day breakfast with our ward, and us thinking that everyone would be running on Mormon standard time showed up 15 min late. Well we were pretty shocked when we drove up to the church and they were already singing O Canada and raising the flag...oops.They were tons of people there to our surprise, and Gordon and I even volunteered to serve pancakes and sausages...although Gordon ate more than he served haha. Afterward we headed down to Calgary to spend the day with my family before white water rafting. Gordon and I decided to go see the fireworks but we didn't want to go downtown so we just drove to a hill by my house to see them. Well that was lame. There were a ton of cars blocking our view and the fireworks didn't even shoot high enough for us to see them. It was a pretty poor display and not worth staying up for...especially since we had to by 5:30 in the morning to get to Golden by 8:30 am the next day. Luckily we left early cause Google maps was very misleading to poor Gordon (who was probably suffering from lack of sleep as well) and he thought we needed to go through Lake Louise to get there... which we didn't by the way. After about three wrong turns, 20 min down the wrong highways, and driving through three national parks asking the people which way to go we finally made it. I'm not gonna lie I wasn't excited to be going rafting in glacial water when it was already cold and damp out, but I couldn't really stay behind so I just had to hope that the water gear they gave us would keep us warm. And it probably would have...if it wouldn't have been damp as well. Somehow rafting in water that's 5 degrees Celsius with wet clothes on didn't seem to raise my excitement level, but none the less I was excited to spend the time with Gordon's family (since we don't see them very much) and to do something I've never done before. The first trip we did was just to get us used to the boat and our guide, the paddling and commands. It was pretty uneventful, kind of like being on a bumpy river. Anytime we'd get a little rapids we thought it was the most exciting thing. My hands and feet were numb from the cold, but I'm sure everyone else's were too. We finally made it to the lunch spot just waiting to get our hands on some hot chocolate (literally). I was starting to get excited since we were going to be doing the more challenging rapids next and we were sure to get tossed around. I just hoped Gordon's sisters wouldn't fall out of the boat and pull me in with them. Contracting hypothermia was not on my agenda for the day. Finally we were off, and silently praying that we wouldn't fall in, we started to get into some of the bigger rapids. IT WAS AMAMAMAMMAAZIIING!!! So much fun. You'd see a big wave come and the guide would yell "GET DOWN!", so we all hunkered in the raft and rode down a wave only to see another one come crashing down on us. As much as it was freezing I loved it. Half the time we'd end up hitting a big wave sideways, so my side of the raft would dip down into the wave and get swallowed by the next one. I managed to avoid a lot of the water head on, since I hid behind my father-in-law haha. Although my body got spared, my face sure didn't. I had to keep crinkling my nose to keep my face from going numb, and Gordon was in rougher shape than me since he was in the front of the boat with his dad. At the end of the trip I could barely walk with everything being so numb from the cold, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. It's a lot scarier watching other people go through the waves than rafting them yourself because you're too concentrated on paddling to really notice how big the mounds of water are coming towards you. It doesn't look as bad when you're actually in it, and there really is nothing to be afraid of. I would definitely recommend that everyone try it at least once, and this from the girl who hates extreme sports.
We stayed in a great condo overnight then spent the next day going to see the Grizzly bear Boo, and riding up in the Gondola. It still wasn't the nicest weather but it was such a fantastic view from the top. The mountains we gorgeous...to look at anyway. We saw some brave souls mountain biking down them, and that was a little too extreme for me. I prefer life.
The trip home was uneventful, other than Gordon and I stopping to look up a lake that we wanted to hike to in Lake Louise. I had a great time with my in-laws and am so grateful that they make me feel like part of the family. The fabulousness (yes I just made that up) of the weekend really made us dread going back to work Monday, but we gotta eat during the school year...living off KD and PB and J doesn't do the trick for me.

recipe highlight

So since I moved out, I found a new love... cooking! Now although I may borrow many recipes from my mum and Devon, and make midweek phone calls where my mum picks up and asks "What recipe do you need?", I think I'm really starting to grow into my own sense of culinary skills. Of course, I've picked up tips (mostly about cleaning as you go) over the years, but this is becoming something that I've developed by myself. I hate hate hate reading a recipe that I really want to try only to realize that I'd have to go to the store and buy 5 ingredients that I'll only use for that recipe, and then they'll become dust collectors in the cupboards. In the beginning I would never try those recipes. I used to see a recipe as a really complicated math equation. If you miss one number or don't do the steps in order you get the wrong product. Now that some of my accidents have actually paid off, I realized that cooking does not require a perfection, or at times a recipe. So I try to look at a recipe as a foundation that I get to build on. I see what kind of ingredients work, the logistics and the timing of all the components and then take off with whatever's in the pantry. I'm really really lucky that Gordon will try anything I put it front of him, he never complains, and he's not picky at all. So I feel a lot more confident and happy cooking for someone who's not gonna scrutinize the food on their plate. Sometimes we find real gems: fast, easy, delicious. So I decided to feature them when we do. The first feature is slow cooker ribs. You can get two racks of ribs for a pretty good price, especially if they're on sale. They're great for entertaining company, and because they're in the slow cooker there is almost zero kitchen time.
Directions
Season both sides with salt and pepper and brown in oven at 450, 15 min a side.
Now you make the BBQ sauce. This is terrific cause you can virtually invent your own, and make it exactly to your liking. If you're really strapped for time you can use about 2 cups of your fav BBQ sauce. Here's a recipe we like...
1 cup ketchup
1 cup fav BBQ sauce (we like sweet ones)
1/2 cup brown sugar (you can add less or more depending on how sweet you want it)
2 tbsps of vinegar
2 tsps oregano
2 tsps worcesteshire sauce
1-2 tsps of chili paste/sauce (optional, we like the kick it gives it)
few dashes of regular hot sauce
You can control the level of heat and the type of heat if you want a mustard spice or smokey spice (like using ancho chili powder) etc.
just pour the BBQ sauce over the ribs and set the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hrs, turning occasionally. They're super tender and flavourful. One of our favourite meals for sure!

Backstreet Boys and Mum practice

So last week was my 20th birthday...changing decades....eeek. I guess I'm officially "old" now, so says my little sister. Gordon had been really building up my birthday present from him, and was really throwing me for a loop. I'm usually a pretty good detective but this one had me stumped. All I knew is that I was really going to like it (cause my mum told me so) and the he got it online. I thought he got it off eBay since he kept turning off the screen every time I went near the computer and was telling me he needed the car to pick up my present (which I thought he had sent to my sister in-law's), but turns out he was leading me down a false path. I honestly had no idea what it could be... So finally the big day came and inside the present bag there was a little jar of homemade saskatoon jam. I already knew I was getting it, since I love homemade jam, especially saskatoon jam, and he'd bought it at the farmer's market a few weeks before. But there wasn't anything else in the bag, so I knew the present must be in the card. I didn't know if he'd taken a picture of the present or what he was up to, but that card was beckoning me. I knew it had to be big since mum was all ready to record the moment on the camera, so I open the envelope and read the card. Then I finally let myself look at the folded paper inside. There was something printed on it, a ticket. And then I saw it...BACKSTREET BOYS! I can't remember screaming and freaking out like that for a long time. I even started crying. For anyone who doesn't know me, I love boy bands from the 90's, especially backstreet boys. They were my childhood. I went to the black and blue concert with my dad and devon and I just remember being in awe and eating my little teeny bopper heart out. To top it all off, my best friend and her husband are coming with us, so it's going to be FABULOUS!!! Now besides the fact that I love BSB and can't wait for my visions of belting out sappy teen ballads to come true, the present was special to me because I knew that Gordon was really making a sacrifice for me by saying he'd share that night with me. BSB and Gordon is like scream-o and me. The sound makes me want to drill pencils into my eyeballs. If that ain't love, I don't know what is.
Now onto the second part of the blog...Mum practice aka my job. I nanny for three kids, Mariah (8), Thomas who has autism (3), and Evangeline (16 months). I'll try and post pictures later. I've only been with them for a month, but I love them to bits already, and since I spend up to 50 hours a week with them, I really feel like I have a big responsibility in teaching and helping raise them, at least for the time being. They make me laugh, make me think, make me raise my eyes to the ceiling and pray that I'll still want to have kids when I'm done. They test my patience in every way possible, but they also make my job so rewarding. Mariah is such a sweet girl. She's obsessed like no other 8 year old I know, with bugs, especially caterpillars. She's so smart, especially with reading, and sometimes the things she says make me forget she's 8 and not 18. Thomas is...Thomas. He's entranced by baby einstein, wal-mart and shapes. He can be incredibly sweet and happy, giggling to himself for no reason, running up and down the sidewalk laughing away, but he can also be incredibly angry and aggressive, to the point where it scares me. He shows emotion on his face very plainly, and sometimes when he's on the verge of a temper tantrum, I can see anger in every line of his face, in every movement of his body. It means a lot of screaming and yelling from him, and a lot of "hands down", "gentle" and time outs from me. But the small successes I make with him are amazing. Small things like getting him to use his fork or spoon instead of his hands, or him coming up to me and sitting on my lap and squeezing me tightly, or teaching him to pull his own shirt down over his head or even getting him to come down the stairs by himself, all make it worth it. Evangeline aka pussycat, is the cutest little thing. Whenever i'm running errands with her, people always coo at her and tell me I have a cute kid. This is the part where I say I'm just the nanny and am glad that I don't have to worry about looking like a young teen mum. I think she's gonna be so quirky when she grows up. She makes the funniest faces, and the weirdest sounds. She's super ticklish and can do some sign language. My favourite days are the ones I can just play with her. I'm trying to teach her things like colours and shapes, and am grateful for the time my mum spent practicing those things with me. The other day we did the shape sorter and she had a lot of trouble putting the shapes in, even if I showed her where they went. We kept putting the shapes in their slots over and over, and finally it clicked. Although I had to turn the shape sorter to the right shape, she knew how they fit and put them in without any problem. She started clapping after every shape she got in, which was pretty adorable. This small moment of learning really made me feel fulfilled. This is what my job's about...sharing these moments of accomplishment with the little ones. I'm so grateful that I don't have to wait to be a mum to experience it, but until then, it sure is good practice.

About your blogger (s)

So I finally caved in and started a blog. This is so much easier than a facebook message to every person you want to keep in touch with. So about us...in case you didn't already know. We got married Feb 6 2010 in the Cardston AB temple surrounded by the most amazing family and friends. They truly made our wedding day special and we'll always be grateful for that (even though we haven't sent out thank you cards yet, but we will...promise!!!) Well I guess I should start with a little bit about us... Let's start with Gordon. Hmmmm what dirt can I share? He said he wasn't gong to read it so I guess I can put whatever I want on. Awesome possum. He's the oldest of 6, grew up in Cranbrook (aka the great and spacious building according to my mum) and he doesn't like fruit and chocolate together... that's one of the weirdest things I can come up with about him. He's very selfless, patient and forgiving and likes to crack a joke about everything...even if it shouldn't be cracked. Gordon loves to travel. He lived in France for a year on exchange and one of his dreams is to go back and visit. He also went on a mission for our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in New York for two years. Last June and July he left his new girlfriend (me!) and went on vacation, stopping in Toronto, New York and then traveling around to Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. So he's a traveler and I'm a homebody. He loves rocking out to 80s music, ogling Camaros, and quoting Star Wars whose poster hangs glamorously in our living room. He tried to convince me to dress up as princess Leia for our engagement photos. I just didn't think the buns would suit my face shape. So about me... (Gordon blogged this) Well besides the little blurb in the about me box, I'm the oldest of three girls. I'm a neat freak and incessentily feel the need to clean if anything is out of place or has a speck of dirt. I'll drop anything and everything I'm doing to coo at a baby, even if it's a hundred feet away. A quirky thing about me is the way I scratch my ears. I'll take my pointer finger knuckle, and poke it into my ear, then vibrate it really fast. I'm caring and kind with others, and am empathetic. I'm devoted to my family and faith, and completely in love with nursing stuff. And have a dry sense of humour. I love watching hockey and will yell instructions at the TV, I also like to yell if I'm driving behind slow people. But I only yell when no one can hear me...
So that's a bit about us...hope we didn't bore you to tears.