the best fried rice you've ever tasted.

sometimes, i get an inkling for chinese.

probably because it's delicious.

and also because it's super sexy when john speaks in mandarin to the owner.

{i am dually motivated, you see}

they have the most delicious fried rice at our favorite place:

and pot stickers that are to-die-for.

after chinese, john introduced me to toejam&earl.

now i just can't wait until next weekend,

when i will undoubtedly beg john to play it with me again.

although i don't think it will take too much begging:

eyes glued to the screen.

weekends are so happy.

milestones.

the last few days, i have written several blog posts....
and have posted none of them.
perhaps it is because life got {crazy/busy/happy/hectic/emotional/tiring/frustrating/draining/scary.....}
perhaps it is because i just wanted to spend what little time there was with my best friend,
who also happens to be my husband.

i am breathing easier now, {kinda}
and looking forward to the future.
the milestones, really.  all the little, seemingly unimportant milestones....
that can make life meaningful in a time of stress and disappointment.
{and help you see the big picture instead of focusing on just one little thing!}

so, here i am, blogging about the little milestones in my life.
{and some big ones too!}
that help me push through the tough times in school.

-  finishing my third semester of nursing school
-  starting work in the summer
-  going to college with my husband
-  lake powell! {and other summer fun}
-  celebrating our {1} year anniversary {and all, thereafter}
-  accomplishing my goal of a humanitarian project somewhere
-  graduating from the nursing program
-  my first real job

the nursing program is likely to give me ulcers, however, it won't be forever.
and when it's over, i will feel like i can really work as a nurse.
i definitely will not know everything, but still....
i will at least know some things.

pretty sure i'm over it and ready for spring, but you have to admit - it is quite lovely.

the best laugh i've had in a long while.

apparently, my husband is a hot item.  

{i already knew this of course, but it seems that the other twitterpated single girls of the byu population have discovered it too.  too late for them though, muahahaha.}

what i mean by this is, your husband has to be pretty freakin attractive to have two girls, on separate occasions, jump out of the passenger seat of a car, 

and dance like a hoochy-mamma in front of your husband's car at a red light.

{i'm talking booty-shakin, lip-lickin, drop-it-pop-it-lock-it dancing.  suggestive stuff for byu.}
as john relayed the story to me, i couldn't help but laugh.  and laugh hard.
that sounds like something i may or may not have done my freshman year.  

and although he doesn't like the attention, i managed to sneak a picture.

i totally don't blame those freshman girls.  who wouldn't want a piece of that?  

food.

last night, i had a thorough conversation about being healthy with john.

wilst making a pumpkin cake.  i know.  how ironic.

here's how it started:

he:  "well now that you're taking that daily vitamin, i wonder if i should be taking one, since i don't get very much nutrition in my diet"

{sometimes, i wonder about him.  i mean honestly, i think eating healthily is the most common topic that i force him into- and also the one that he shows the least amount of interest in.  [right after fashion of course].  he never wants to talk about nutrition.  if anything, he definitely hates it.  i think my attempts at being health-conscious are a nuisance to him, if they can even be called that.  i should properly say that i think my attempts at attempting to think about eating healthily are more or less a great nuisance to him.}

she:  [making excuses] "well i try to feed you fruits and vegetables..... blah blah blah blah blah"

{as i am making cake}

the truth is, cake is much more delicious than celery or carrot sticks.

and, although i like fiber in my diet,

and know that i should eat more healthily....

a little cake every once and awhile is a needed treat.

next step:  let's count the pounds of chocolate goodness stored in my backpack.

{for quick-energy, of course- and so that i don't crash into oblivion whilst studying}

so {we} are turning a new leaf.  i mean, at least for tonight.

i am going to make a low-carb, high in veggies, low-fat, fiber and nutrient-packed meal.

john and i will definitely hate it.

{just} another nursing post

i have many mixed feelings.

clinical.

slow day.

felt silly because i didn't know what i was doing and no one was directing me.  

{how hard can it be to say, "follow this nurse around," eh?}

once we started prepping my patient for surgery, I felt like I knew a little bit more.

but then i asked to do an IV.

"they are operating on his other arm to i've only got one shot - so i should probably do it"

and i was fine with that.  until.....

later on that day a fellow student told me that he grumbled about me asking to the IV.

embarrassment.  despite the fact that - 

why should i have to apologize for asking to gain a little experience?

therefore, i have made a resolution. 

when i am an experienced nurse, i am going to do my best to remember what it was like to be a student and feel inexperienced and stupid. i am going to give the student the ability to be taught and learn as much as they can and gain as much experience as possible.  i am going to be kind and patient, and really try and stretch the student’s abilities and comfort zone.

as a student, i sometimes feel like i am a burden on those teaching.

but if there wasn't anyone willing to teach.....

then how would we learn?

boo mr. IV man for making me feel stupid. 

{although your reasoning for doing the IV yourself were, in fact, very valid.  next time you feel annoyed at a student, try and put yourself in their shoes and think how scared they might be to enter the real nursing world only having done a handful of successful IVs.  if you still think then that you should be annoyed, then you are weird.}

thank you, Jake from OR, for teaching me.

{so i didn't need to run home crying.}

today.

this evening i am feeling rather nostalgic.
nostalgic about the moments i got to spend with my little monkey earlier today.

isn't he cute?

and nostalgic about the moments i got to spend trying to coerce my mom into getting the iPhone for verizon.
because really, what isn't there to like?

now:  i am contemplating ending this blog post early....
because john is watching some rather entertaining television in the next room.
and it has been oh-so-long since i have seen him last!  {aka about ten minutes}
maybe someday, dear blog, you will become more interesting to me than husband and friends and family....
but for right now you are boring in comparison.  {so sorry}
i simply wish to record my innermost thoughts
about life, and love, and everything inbetween.
in other words, you are the means of my cherishing moments with them.
a noble purpose, i do believe.