The Sanders House

Catch up

2012-01-05T12:12:00.002-07:00

I apologize for the pictureless post, I just needed to write down the last couple months so I could catch-up.

We spent Thanksgiving in Utah. It was a whirlwind trip but so much fun. We did a 5K run Thanksgiving Day, spent the holiday with extended family, saw My Fair Lady, went to a UofU football game, shopped at the outlets, bought new bedroom furniture and most importantly celebrated baby! Katie and my mom put on a great baby shower with lots of family and friends. Skyler and I are blessed to have such amazingly supportive family and friends.

December Skyler finished up his semester and now is half-way through law school, we celebrated with a trip to the horse races. I discovered I am terrible at picking horses (all mine lost), Skyler on the other hand did fairly well. We went to Palos Verdes and had a relaxing Christmas with the Sanders. Jocey and Dave were in town and we spent a lot of time watching movies, visiting with family and checking out christmas lights.

Christmas Eve I had to work so I missed a big dinner, but I did get to spend Christmas day with the whole Sanders clan. Even Skyler's great aunt was in town from Louisiana. We were spoiled with great food and company.

We have been suprised how fast the last couple of months have flown by, but are excited for 2012. We hope everyone had a great New Years and we will be better at keeping everyone updated on life. Hopefully I can track down some pics so our blog will have some color again!

Behold the Baby Bump

2011-11-02T21:19:00.006-06:00

or lack thereof. I figured at 20 weeks I should document the belly, it's small but there.

May the force be with you

2011-11-01T09:27:00.004-06:00

Skyler and I were pretty lame last year when it came to celebrating Halloween, so this year I decided to embrace my inner Claire Dunphy. We started off the season with a trip to the pumpkin patch and ended it with 2 parties, lots of candy, yummy food, and way too much wig wearing!

Friday we had some friends over for a night of treats, chatting, and Minute to Win It games. Unfortunately with 25 people we didnt get a great group picture of everyone in costume, but I did snag this one of Skyler teaching Savannah about blasters. She found them facinating!

(Our friend took some hilarious pics during Minute to Win It, so they might eventually make it to the blog.)

Saturday we spent the morning hiking and cooking chili for the ward Halloween party. We made sure to bring the camera and document our night.

Melis, Deb and I take our donut eating VERY seriously. I like to think we burned some calories while squatting to reach our treat.

Skyler and I decided to go with a Star Wars theme this year, so I finally got to test out brown hair.

Our trunk-or-treat decorating. If you look closely you might be able to see Darth Vadar in our pumpkin. Unfortunately we forgot to snag a picture of just Darth and by Monday night our friend was moldy and withered :(.

Needless to say, after 2 solid days of Halloweening we were a bit overloaded. I guess that means this year was a success! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Perks of Pepperdine

2011-10-18T09:00:00.006-06:00

Great way to spend a Saturday night.....

+
______free concert ____________________this view_______

Pumpkining

2011-10-15T07:57:00.003-06:00

Long ago in VA my parents took us on a trip to a pumpkin patch. One of the legit ones that you actually ride a tractor into the field, search for your perfect pumpkin, and saw it off the vine. The rules for payment... you paid a set rate for as many pumpkins and you could hold. It was bomb!

The last few months have been filled with cravings... cinnamon rolls, mac&cheese, chocolate milk. With the lack of seasonal changes and a personal love for all things Fall, my newest craving has been pumpkins. I decided we were going to avoid the grocery store pumpkin bins and find ourselves a legitimate pumpkin patch.

It took some hunting on Google, but we tracked down Underwood Farms in Moorepark. They are a "pick your own produce" farm and so we decided to give their pumpkin patch a try. We enlisted our friends, Nate, Whitney, and little Savannah to come with.

It was a 25 minute drive, which beats the 1+ Virginia journey, and it was cheap! (It's one down fall was that they didn't actually let you hack the pumpkin off the vine... they had already done tha hard work for you). We struggled with the concept of taking pics with our friends so this is our only pic with proof that Nate and Whitney were with us. Savannah was very good at helping me pick out the biggest, little sugar pumpkin. Whitney makes her own pumpkin puree for pies/baking and I decided I'd give it a try. We learned at the patch that sugar pumpkins make for the best food.

We also picked out a 40lb chunker, but you will have to wait to meet him until after he's carved. The great debate the last few hours is what to carve into our giant friend... last year we squeezed in a ninja turtle, this year we could probably fit the whole gang! After hauling out pumpkins to the car we decided to hit up the corn maze. We thought we were pretty awesome in the beginning and mocked the easiness of the maze. 30 minutes later Whitney and I were ready to call 911 and have someone come find us. Skyler found a map near the end of the maze that led us out. He was so excited to find the haybail pyramid. After a few hours in the lovely 90 degree October weather, my cheer was a little less enthusiastic.

We decided that our pumpkin patch trip was a success. We escaped L.A., went on an adventure with friends, and got the halloween ball rolling! It totally beat digging through the bins at the store trying to find a decent pumpkin! (Now if only we can find us some light sweater weather, CA would be perfect)

You be the Judge

2011-10-03T11:53:00.003-06:00

I LOVE autumn! It is by far my favorite time of the year. Football, apple cider, pumpkins, leaves changing, crisp morning air, blue blue skies, sweaters... what's not to love!?!

Now that we live in L.A. I'm struggling to 1) accept that it is indeed Fall 2) appreciate the 75-100 degree weather. It's hard to justify soup when you we sweating outside in shorts and surrounded by palm trees.

(This is what I grew up with.)

(This is what I now live with.)

I know it sounds ridiculous to complain about the pretty weather and close proximity to the beach but I think I'd be willing to trade it all in for big leafy trees, mountains and a real Fall.

Catch-up

2011-09-18T13:42:00.002-06:00

I'm trying to be more diligent about this blogging thing, so here's a little catch-up.

August we went to Utah for Todd and Rachel's wedding. It was beautiful and so fun seeing friends. I'm suddenly missing everything about Utah, especially the quiet (L.A. is crowded and loud 24/7).
The next week best friend Anthony paid us a visit. He had never seen CA before so we tried to give him the LA experience in 4 days.
Skyler started year #2 of law school and I crammed a ton of work in to make up for all the time missed while vacationing.
First of September we made a trip to Vegas with the Sanders for Tyson and Lavey's wedding. I tested my luck and gambled for the first time, it was a success and I won enough $ to buy a PPB diaper bag. We also saw Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian and got to spend time with the Jeppesen clan in an airplane hanger.
This past Wednesday Skyler and I attended our first Dodger game of the season with Stephanie and Mark Oxborrow. We aren't huge Dodger fans so we spent 90% of the game eating cinnamon/sugar pretzels and catching up.
Yesterday I rushed home from work to watch the second half of the BYU vs Utah game. I made it through the third quarter before turning it off and going to bed. After the last 2 weeks, I will not be adjusting my work schedule around BYU football games anytime soon.

So there you have it, 1 1/2 months crammed into this tiny post. Hopefully I'll have a bit more energy within the next few weeks and pictures will become a blogging staple again.

Family Vacation

2011-08-04T09:48:00.006-06:00

This year the Terry clan came to our house for a little family vacay. It was a busy and fun week as we toured LA and tried to avoid the traditional SoCal vacation of Disneyland and Hollywood Blvd.

Mormon Battalion Sea World

San Diego Wild Animal Park

Riding to the Hollywood sign

Griffith Observatory

Santa Monica Pier

zuma beach

Summer Projects

2011-08-04T09:39:00.006-06:00

We've had a great time decorating our apartment and being a little crafty. Normally not great at finishing projects, Skyler and I have been suprisingly on top of things this summer. Here are our newest additions...

Our balcony furniture with homemade pillows and newly painted table remote control holder
our travel map

This is about as crafy as we get but it's been fun.

Happy 4th

2011-07-10T10:09:00.006-06:00

I love 4th of July weekends. The last two years we have spent the 4th with my family on vacation. Since I had to work the 3rd, we decided to cram in some fun on my days off. Friday we went to Universal Studios and scored ourselves season passes since we are only 20 minutes from King King and Jaws. It was incredibly hot so we enjoyed getting a bath on the Jurassic Park ride. They are working on a Transformers ride which hopefully we will get to experience next year!

After a long day in the sun we cleaned up and enjoyed an outdoor dinner at Sagebrush Cantina. Yummy yummy food and great atmosphere. We finished up our day 1 of fun with the Waldrons and Menchie's
Saturday we went on a hike in Malibu. Skyler found us a hike with waterfalls and the ruins of burned down mansions. We arrived around 9 and got to the top in time to watch the mist burn off the ocean. I love Malibu in the morning! mountains + ocean= GORGEOUS!

After our hike we cleaned up and cooked the famous 4th of July beans and fruit salsa. Saturday night was spent at the pool BBQin' with friends. We also played a great game of noodle ball!

Sunday was work day :( followed by our first time playing Settlers of Catan.... we are hooked!

We started our 4th with breakfast and a bike parade at the church, it took me back to our days in Holladay. We than went for a little run and prepared for our road trip to PV. Deb and Spencer joined us on our journey and to celebrate the 4th Sander's style. Two BBQs, pool time, and 20 firework shows later, we were greatly satisifed with our amazingly relaxing 4th. I love America and it's love for things that go BOOM!

Our view from James and Stefanie's in Palos Verdes. We saw all all the fireworks along the coast. Beautiful!

We've made it!

2011-06-15T00:31:00.002-06:00

After six months in our apartment, we've finally become proud owners of a brand new TV stand! We have been blessed with lots of hand-me-down and refurbished furniture so this guy was a big deal. Fate and beach day led us to a random store in Camarillo where we finally found the perfect match to our coffee table. Now we are just 2 chairs (they are sitting in Utah) away from having our living room arranged and feeling good about posting pics of our new abode.

In other news, we have survived six months as rent paying Californians! Time is flying by and we feel so lucky to be in an amazing ward with amazing new friends! If you ever need a good laugh at church feel free to visit... we are a little unconventional and we LOVE it! Thanks to everyone for making us feel welcome in our new home!

New Hospital

2011-06-14T13:16:00.006-06:00

Our hospital is expanding. Starting July 10th our PICU will be operating out of a brand spankin' new building! Proud of the 10 year project, the hospital decided to open the new building up to employees, volunteers and their families. It was a one time opportunity for Skyler to see where I work, so I invited him and his parents (Remax donates to the Children's Miracle Network, so I thought the Sander's clan would be interested in knowing what their contributing to).

The new building is such a big change and looks fantastic. One billion dollars later, it is equiped with the newest technology and is southern California's pediatric disaster center if there is an earthquake or attack. It's awesome to be part of such a big deal facility!

The tour was nice but the garden party was fantastic! We stuffed our faces with diet coke, italian ice, hot dogs, hamburgers and mini corn dogs. Thanks CHLA for the free lunch and the beautiful new building. I'm excited for July!

Pure Happiness

2011-06-09T01:37:00.006-06:00

I am going to preface this post with the ever cliche comment, my blog doubles as a journal. This was more for me but feel free to read it.

I was working night shifts last week (first time in 6 months and entirely my choice) and had a lot of time to reflect about my career.

When I started BYU nursing we were asked "why nursing"? My classmates all discussed their nursing heritage, their love for patient care, their desire to heal. When it was my turn I made up a cheeseball answer; no one needed to know that I'd picked nursing for a guaranteed paycheck and to avoid 12 years of medical school. I figured I'd find something about nursing to love. Good news, with my one year RN anniversary coming up there are very few things I don't love about nursing!

Most people imagine a scene from Patch Adams when I tell them I work in pediatrics. It's sometimes awkward explaining that my kids usually aren't "fun" because they aren't awake. Cue two minute explanation about the Pediatric ICU, sedation medications, ventilators, and complex machines that keep kids alive. The image of clown noses and bald smiling kids quickly fads, leading to a statement usually involving the word "depressing". I can't dispute that my job regularly involves a billowing black cloud, but it also is graced by angels.

Everyday I go to work knowing something big is going to happen. Regardless of the situation, there is always a family of doctors and nurses ready to celebrate or mourn. The support system is incredible and frankly difficult to explain. It's one of those places that you are willing to have 10 bad days because the 1 good day is so amazingly satisfying. I'm reminded frequently how precious life is and that there is a "bigger picture" outside the work grind. I see miracles daily, and get to feel the sweet spirits of my itty bitties even when they are super sick and can't communicate. I feel incredibly blessed to be given the opportunity to be in their presence and to be their nurse.

There you go folks... the sappy, cheesey, truthful reason why I love my job. To outsiders it depressing, to me it is pure happiness.

GRRR!

2011-05-24T17:02:00.004-06:00

It's been over a week since my last long run. After a week of wandering NYC and working 12hour shifts, it took a lot of energy to throw on my shoes and get my booty outside. 15 minutes into my run my beloved ipod died. Silly ipod for killing my spirit, silly me for not checking it's battery. Grrr! I hate running in silence!

Where did May go!?!

2011-05-23T20:52:00.005-06:00

May has flown by and so much has happened!
-Skyler had finals the first two weeks of May and officially finished his first year of law school. Bring on round 2.
-I celebrated my 24th birthday with family (Jocey, Dave and Julie came to visit) and friends (I threw my own birthday party while Sky was taking finals).
-We took family pics with the Sanders clan in P.V. and then hopped on a jet for NYC. After 4 amazing days running around the city with my parents seeing pretty much every tourist destination, it was back to L.A.
-I spent the weekend working while Sky got ready for his externship to start. I'm so lucky to have such a domestic hubby, he did laundry, cleaned, cooked, shopped.
-Today Sky started his externship with the L.A. 9th Circuit Court, and I finished off my first 4 shifts out of my 11 in 14 days. 7 left until I finally have more than 1 day off in between! (the things we sacrifice for vacation.. aka sanity).
Here are a few pics from our month....

day off

2011-04-25T21:06:00.004-06:00

I returned from Utah on Thursday, worked Friday-Sunday, had today off and I'm back to work Tuesday-Thursday. With lots of hours to be worked in the next three days, I decided to be lazy today. I went to the gym. Went running in Malibu. Had lunch with Skyler at Pepperdine. And went to the beach. It was an amazingly beautiful day! One of those days when its sunny, slightly breezy and warm enough to wear a bathing suit without freezing but cool enough not to bake. It was hard to convince myself to go home and finish laundry. Hopefully the weather is nice so Skyler can join me again on Friday.

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T20:15:00.013-06:00

I love celebrating Easter! I love going to church, listening to the choir and having a big meal with family. This year I spent my Easter at the hospital working. The Sanders were out of town so poor Sky was planning on being all alone. Thankfully our friends are wonderful and invited Sky to a yummy dinner. And when I got home from work we decorated our Easter eggs (unfortunately they were left out on the counter so now they're a little stinky). Since I won't be eating the eggs this year, I gave them a photo shoot so I don't feel bad tossing them.

Weird

2011-04-25T19:34:00.004-06:00

College life is weird. You move to a different state. Live with strangers. Make amazing friends. Graduate and move again. While in Utah I spent some time with these lovely ladies, minus Queenie, and it's crazy to me how much life has changed in two years.
Rachel is married and moving to Texas or Alabama for hubby to go to grad school. Laura graduates from pharmacy school in June and is headed to Minnesota with her hubby. Queenie is in D.C. getting a Master's and making me home-sick for the east coast. Katie teaches kiddos and has her own little person. Jocey is Seattle bound with Dave for a new work adventure. Sky and I are figuring out life in CA.

Weird how the moment you get your diploma everything changes. You just disappear and hope that the long distance relationship works. All I have to say is thank goodness for Christmas Cards, the creator of that tradition was genius!

Good luck ladies. Love ya forever!

So Blessed

2011-04-25T18:04:00.005-06:00

I love my job. I love the little people, I love my co-workers, and I love self scheduling! I got to head home this past week and visit my family for a few days. I spent lots of time shopping and hanging out with my sissy. It was so fun sleeping over at Katie and Jayson's and getting to play with my ADORABLE nephew! He's getting so big and toddlerish. We went to the park and had a fun play date with Kristy and Owen. He's a really great helper and loves to sweep and wash dishes. He also loves big boy cups, using the fork by himself, and balls. Yes folks, he got some Terry genes and loves balls, just like his aunt missy. ;).

I also got to spend some time helping my parents renovate my Grandma's house, they are amazingly handy. I'm so glad they taught me how to paint a beautiful wall when I was younger, it will save me a lot of dough in the future! They have worked so hard and the house looks fantastic! They also spoiled me with lots of yummy food, my mama knows me well and saved a free chicken nuggets coupon for me! Haha.

B-in-Law Dave graduated the day I left to come home. I was sad to miss it but had fun dining on Cafe Rio, buying amo and stocking up on soda at costco with him and Jocey. We went and had a fun night of Modern Family with my family at Katie's. Mama and Papa drove down to join us. They love me sooo much :).

So moral of this post...my family is wonderful and I had so much fun spending time with them. I might have shed a tear or two between Pleasant Grove and Nephi because I was already missing them. I'm soooo blessed to have such amazing people in my life. I love, love, love my family.

(Fingers crossed next trip the hubby can join me)

Regressing

2011-04-10T09:20:00.003-06:00

I survived my first week as a completely independent PICU nurse! My patients weren't too sick, but when they can talk and cry and wiggle it's a whole new world of busy. After 37.5 hours and 3 days I have learned a few things about 4 year olds.

1. Icecream from the cafeteria is the best form of bribery.

2. Wake a kid up in the middle of nap time at your own risk.

3. If you mention removing a bandaid prepare for tears before you ever touch them.

4. Orange Jell-O and apple juice will always win over apple sauce and orange juice.

5. Don't EVER think about putting them back into a diaper, they are devoted to the big kid pants.

In honor of the itty bittys I regressed this weekend and watched the cartoons of my childhood. Thank you Costco for having all things wonderful (aka seasons 1-3 of Duck Tales).

1 Year 2 Graduations

2011-04-03T11:30:00.004-06:00

Last year I finished nursing school, graduated from BYU and passed my NCLEX. I thought I was done with this graduation thing; however, after 6 months of training at the hospital, I've done it again! This time our graduation was at the California Endowment Center, involved a delicious lunch and lots of swag. We also had a hysterical guest speaker, Donna Wright (an accomplished nurse, author and national motivational/super nurse speaker). My swag. I left my diploma in the car, but I'm loving the hospital memorabilia I get to rock, especially the PICU mug.

I'm discovering that being taller is not always better. You end up doing the awkward head tilt, body lean.

I'm pretty sure I will never escape poster projects! At least it was fun to put together and I had an excuse to use my glitter glue :).

Speechless

2011-04-01T19:00:00.002-06:00

So glad I have a heavenly father that blesses me with beautiful sunsets on hard days.

Sick Day

2011-03-19T14:21:00.005-06:00

After 6 months on the job I have caught my first cold. Poor Sky has it too and after a busy day with Nina yesterday we are feeling a bit lazy today. Time for some napping, basketball and cadbury mini eggs.

Thanks M&D for the air mattress, it's getting put to good use today!

Friday with Nins

2011-03-19T13:25:00.005-06:00

Nina came into town for the weekend and we got to spend all day Friday playing! We started off the day with a trip to Santa Monica to check out the 3rd Street Promenade and famous Santa Monica Pier. Our lovely UCLA dental school friend, Mr. Mark Rowan, joined us too.

After our ferris wheel ride we hit up Duke's for lunch. Sky ordered his BBQ Mango Chicken Salad and I decided to try the Mango BBQ burger. I was sooo excited to dig into my burger, until I realized that the beautifully constructed meal was missing the main ingredient... the hamburger! After a laugh with the waiter and a chat with an embarrassed manager, I ended up with a delicious free burger and complementary dessert!

Nothing tops a great day of great food like a trip to the beach. Sky and I pulled out the kite and enjoyed a windy day at Zuma Beach. It was a little cold and Matthew McConaughey wasn't running on the beach, but it was the perfect ending to our sunny afternoon.

Thanks for visiting Ms. Nins. It was so fun hot tubbing, shopping and chatting with you!

Pi Day

2011-03-19T13:11:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we had a Pi Party to celebrate 3.14. It was another awesome excuse to visit with new friends and eat lots of pizza (aka pie) and dessert! We also watched the BYU basketball game...a bit of a buzz kill, but who better to mourn with than friends? Thank you Pi for your wonderful circularness and all things deliciously round.

Happy Mardi Gras

2011-03-08T22:49:00.005-07:00

Once upon a time, two years ago, I married a SoCal boy with Southern roots. During his mission in New Orleans he ate lots of sugar cane, Tabasco crackers and nutella. On occasion he was graced with the beauty of southern cooking and fell in love with the Shrimp Po' Boy and King Cake. In celebration of Mardi Gras and all things New Orleans, we had a Fat Tuesday Feast. I'm kind of mad it took me 2 years to make these heavenly po' boys, who can resist fried shrimp with an awesome remoulade sauce?!

After our yummy sandwiches we waited for the King Cake to finish. Vons didn't have little naked babies to hide in the cake, but I'm pretty sure Skyler and I wouldn't have found it anyway. If you've never had King Cake think cream cheese filling, sweet bread and sugary lemon glaze... it had me at cream cheese. From personal observation, folks from the south are happy and plump, I now understand where both these traits come from!

Since we ended up indulging on Fat Tuesday I decided to embrace the season and participate in Lent. I struggle with New Years resolutions but 40 days is a lot easier sounding than 365. So starting tomorrow no more baked goods... cookies, donuts, brownies, cakes (us nurses are fed well by our patient's parents). I might also attempt 40 days of exercise, we'll see how week 1 goes. So, Happy Mardi Gras friends! May the naked babies bring you luck this year!

Bad Wife!

2011-03-01T15:38:00.007-07:00

Friday was Skyler's birthday and I had to work. I was cake-less, present-less and didn't get home until 830pm. Poor guy spent the whole day celebrating himself alone at home. We went out for frozen yogurt at 1030 with the Waldron's, and even my plan to throw some candles into his treat and sing didn't pan out. After opening his card (in my defense he wanted a bike.. kinda hard to buy when he's never officially picked one out), he went to bed with Charlie Brown music playing in the background. Yep... terrible birthday. The next day was damage control. I made him a pancake birthday cake with 26 blazing candles and we watched the BYU basketball game. We went to the temple and drove by Phil and Claire's house (we aren't sure if someone lives there but there was a car in the driveway). On the way home we grabbed some Boluvard Burger and enjoyed some Modern Family. I thought I had made up for the Friday disaster, but amid making chocolate cinnamon cream cheese cupcakes Phil's IPad birthday episode started...cue Charlie Brown music. Yes, Skyler is still without a birthday present but we did buy plane tickets to NYC in May.Sorry for such a lame birthday. I promise next year will be bomb! Happy 26th hubby! Love, love, love you!

What did you do this wkend?

2011-02-21T21:09:00.006-07:00

This weekend was a bit insane. Thursday night we flew to SLC for Blake's wedding. On our layover in Vegas the plane was turned around to kick off a tipsy dude who wouldn't turn off his phone. After a late arrival (midnight), we made it home to catch some zzzs before our 530 wake up call.
Friday morning we went to Provo to see my bestie Bre after her night shift. Silly us thought that Kneaders would be open at 630, we sat in a cold car til 7 chatting... the things we do for bottomless french toast. Then it was off to Katie's to visit, a quick shopping trip to Rod Works and a last minute hair appointment before Blake and Mari's wedding.

The wedding and reception were beautiful! It's crazy that these boys have stayed friends through missions, college, moving and marriage! We loved spending the evening celebrating Blake and Mari and catching up with our Provo peeps.

After much debate we decided to head to Brighton on Saturday. It was snowy which left the slopes empty and covered in powder- such a nice change from our April slush last year at the Canyons. Mama Terry stayed home with Kayson so we got to hang out with Dad, Katie and Jayson.

It was a little chilly, but totally worth it! (sorry Colin for missing your b-day lunch :( )

After snowboarding and skiing we cleaned up and went to Texas Roadhouse for Skyler's week early birthday dinner. Sky wasn't a big fan of the birthday saddle, I think he was a little embarassed when they announced his age to the restaurant (26... he's getting so old!)

After dinner we played a little bit with our awesome buddy. He really likes his iguana.

Sunday morning we headed to the airport in a snow storm. Our two days in the snow was fun but it sure was nice to step off the plane in L.A. to warm, sunny and 65.

We topped off our weekend by watching our Valentine's gifts. Valentine's Day (the movie) and Modern Family= perfect Sunday night combo. Happy b-day George and Abe, thanks for the great holiday wkend!

Happy B-day Little Man!

2011-02-21T20:34:00.004-07:00

Our nephew celebrated his 1st bday earlier in the month. He wasn't quite sure what to do with his birthday cupcake so he decided to show it some love. Note to self... eat lots of cake around our itty bitties so they know what to do on their 1st bday cake smash!

We got to visit my sissy, b-in-law and buddy this weekend before this adorable photo shoot! Isn't he a stud!! Love my little peanut, he's getting so big!!

Little Joys of Life

2011-02-14T16:19:00.004-07:00

The pediatric ICU is seldom rainbows and butterflies. Most of our kids have tubes down their throats, are heavily sedated and need a handful of machines to stay alive. A few weeks ago I took care of a teenage boy who was intubated (the breathing tube down the throat) with AML (a very intense progressive form of leukemia).

He was suprisingly alert and was able to communicate via writing. At one point he had a question and started to write, only problem was he would doze off half way through his note and end up scribbling. After 10 minutes of trying to communicate he became frustrated, and angrily wrote me this note.
I couldn't help but bust out laughing, such a harsh word coming from an incredibly sweet kid! It reminded me why I love my job and my "love note" has ended up on our fridge. Sometimes we forget to find joy in the little things like a drink. My buddy is doing O.K. is tube free and drinking his little heart out (in a non-alcoholic way).

Kinecting with Mark

2011-02-13T22:13:00.003-07:00

Our long lost friend Mark came over tonight for some dinner and Kinect. It was great seeing a Provo face and we can't wait to see him again on Friday.

Shameless Plug

2011-02-13T18:53:00.002-07:00

I wasn't very impressed with the Super Bowl commericals this year, but this one made me laugh. Found out the next day that my hospital's cardiology department fixed little Darth Vader's heart. NBD. Just thought I would throw out that little shameless plug.

Bye-bye night shift

2011-02-13T18:42:00.002-07:00

November-January I worked night shift at the hospital.

Pros: more money, patient's are sleeping, we don't push sick kids around the hospital for CT and MRI, fewer doctors to deal with.
Cons: Feel like a vampire, takes an extra day to get "normal", never see hubby, the gym does not exist, traffic sucks!

Since there are 10 of us they couldn't put everyone on night shift. We drew numbers out of a hat and 1-4 had first dibs on day shift. I picked last and was lucky #4! After a debate between the $11,000/year difference and remaining sane, I took the sanity. Yes, I avoided the dreaded newbie night shift!! All night shifts will be by my choosing and I will never have an excuse to be pale again!!!

10 Little Monkeys (yes we will also be your nurses)

2011-02-13T18:24:00.004-07:00

My job at the L.A. Children's Hospital involves a 22 week program with all the newly graduated RNs. Since the hospital is not hiring another group of new grads until Sept 2011 they hired 70 of us and placed 10 in the PICU (my unit). After 3 months of hard-core classes and 12hr shifts, we finally had a chance to goof around, like pediatric nurses should. We took unit pictures and decided to go with the "10 little monkey" theme. We tweaked the story a bit and all the little head bumping monkeys were sent to an ICU to treat their trauma. Cheesy, but it gave us an excuse to play in the new hospital's playground (it is not yet open to the public or hospital staff, but who can say no to nurses who save little human lives?)

Super Bowl Southern Style

2011-02-13T18:10:00.002-07:00

When we moved into our new place in January I decided to have a Super Bowl Party to break in our home. As the weeks went by the excitement of the game diminished, it was not an impressive year for the NFL. However, I was determined that we were having a party and it was going to be awesome! Since the game was bound to suck I decided we needed to step the food up a notch, hence, the Sander's Southern Style Super Bowl Party! (probably should've done it last year when the Saint's played). We snagged the Denney's shrimp boil recipe and found some families at church to bribe into being our new friends :). The result.... delicious food, 10 adults, 6 kids, fantastic company, and a great half time show (the game was ok too)!

Hollywood and Horses

2011-02-13T17:45:00.003-07:00

The second week of January brought us 80 degree weather so we decided to embrace it and hike the Griffith Observatory. My friend Kristi joined us and poor Skyler had to listen to our nursing stories for 3 hours :). When we got to the top we were joined by 50 cowboys, apparently it was the annual L.A. cowboy retreat. It made for some random pics.

LA Suprises

2011-01-09T17:51:00.005-07:00

We had some friends from Pepperdine over last night for dinner and learned a lot about our new neighborhood. Today after church we went to this little gem 10 minutes up the road.
Skyler and I took a little peak inside the ranch and discovered all the goodies of the biggest loser gym. Needless to say we left jealous and while roaming around saw the set of Daggers (not quite sure what that's about).

Xmas Break

2011-01-09T17:24:00.006-07:00

Christmas-New Years was a marathon of travelling, moving and working. New Years eve we picked my parents up from the airport and started the somewhat relaxing part of Skyler's xmas break. We drove PCH and stopped at Duke's in Malibu... best view and food I've had in awhile! We spent the night at the apartment decorating and watching TV. We had a midwest new years, watched the replay of the ball dropping at 10pm and went to bed (I worked the night shift the day before and was running on a 2 hour nap). New Year's day we headed to Grandma Sander's and watched TCU beat Wisconsin! Sunday we drove Wilshire and Rodeo and checked out the Sunset Blvd mansion. Monday we headed back to LA and hit up the La Brea Tar Pits. With all the rain there was even tar on the grass...

Tuesday we spent the day at Knotts Berry Farm. The park was pretty empty and so we enjoyed walking onto rides with no lines! We also ate Mrs. Knott's famous fried chicken and ate about 20 mini biscuits!

Wednesday my parents headed back to Utah and I headed back to work. It's a little weird living alone with Skyler again. We are so excited to get to know the area and make new friends at church.

We Made It!

2011-01-09T17:01:00.005-07:00

Christmas was a bit weird this year. The celebration started the first of December when Jocelyn came to visit. Sander's Christmas was celebrated along with our 2 year anniversary, December 20th before my run of 3 night shifts and our flight to SLC.

The 23rd we headed for SLC to spend Christmas with the Terry clan. We flew into town and spent the evening with auntie cindy, the cousins and best friend's hubby Austin. We missed Katie and Jayson by a day (they went to cali to spend xmas with jayson's family) :( The 24th my parents, Skyler and I emptied the storage unit and loaded the moving van. Lunch was a bit delayed as the first 3 restaurants we tried to eat at were closed for x-mas eve! After a long day of running errands we survived long enough to see xmas lights before passing out from exhaustion. We set our alarm to wake up at 830 to open presents (we probably could've slept until 10). After presents we had the traditional monkey bread, fruit cup and hot chocolate.

At 5 we headed out of town to begin our trek to St George. The moving van, parent's van and 4 tired adults made to Cali around 3pm on the 26th... Cali's 55mph truck law really makes for a long drive! We are officially moved into our new place and we are loving it!

First Christmas Card

2011-01-09T16:46:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, The Sanders

First Week

2010-11-09T09:33:00.010-07:00

Whoever invented the Mon-Fri 8-5 work week is evil! I spend 5 days a week feeling like this...
After an hour+ in traffic I get home and want to do this...

I apologize if I haven't responded to a text, voice message, email, facebook, etc. I'll be out of commission until 12 hour shifts start the end of November.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T20:59:00.002-06:00

Wasn't really feelin Halloween this year but Sky pulled out his 1st grade costume and we had some fun....

We had a pretty solid theme for the church Halloween party. Gotta love cartoons from the 90s!

Too cute for words

2010-10-23T10:59:00.009-06:00

Odd October

2010-10-23T10:53:00.003-06:00

This month has been filled with strange encounters. After my bird episode (see past post) I found a giant spider in my bed. Gross! Last week I was driving down to visit Katie and found this little guy going 70mph on the back of a bike. He was pretty cute and the goggles were very appropriate!

Fall Drive

2010-10-23T10:33:00.008-06:00

I love the Fall! I love layering and pumpkins and apples and leaves! I am a VA girl at heart and autumn doesn't exist without color!

Call Me Bird woMAN

2010-10-12T13:00:00.003-06:00

After a week of work at RCC it was time to head back to LA to visit Skyler for the weekend. I thought that I would be smart and leave on the earliest flight out of SLC to avoid delays. The plane was supposed to take off at 745am, by 815am they decided that they were having mechanical difficulties with a light and needed us to switch planes. We all had to get off the plane, walk across the terminal and check in via their list of passenger names. Once we were situated we took off for Pheonix (I had a layover but wasn't supposed to get off the plane).

We landed in Pheonix 45 minutes behind schedule and my group of LA people were kicked off the plane and sent to board another flight. I hate airports and was a little bugged that I now had to dash across the Pheonix airport to catch a connecting flight.

As I stood in line (in a completely enclosed building) annoyed and waiting to board my third plane of the day, I felt something heavy hit my shoulder. Even more bugged, I intended to turn my head and give the stank eye to whoever was throwing stuff... instead I found this little guy hanging from my shirt!

Startled I quickly brushed him off my shoulder. Out of the 100 people now intrigued with the bird on the ground, only two people had seen the kamikaze bird attack my shoulder. Still in shock they verified that the bird had indeed flown into my shoulder. CRAZINESS! I think next time I'll pick the later more direct flight.

Singin' in the Rain

2010-10-02T11:12:00.005-06:00

Last night Sandra treated us to a night at the Norris Theatre to see their season opener, Singin' in the Rain. I was a bit worried that they would ruin one of my favorite musicals, however the choreography was very true to Gene. The production even had a raining stage so Don Lockwood's famous dance was legit.

Lazy Day

2010-09-30T14:30:00.004-06:00

It's 1:30pm. The bed is not made, our room is a disaster, no shower, no gym, no phone calls. Today has been a lazy day.

After a month of running around with everything going wrong, our bank account being drained, and having no time to breathe, I have given in to doing absolutely nothing! I remodelled our blog, ate breakfast and watched 3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy (because I still hadn't seen the season finale).

With my hair a mess and my head filled with amazing Meredith Grey quotes, I finally feel normal. I don't mind that I have to leave in 3 days and have nothing packed. Eventually I will get around to calling the car insurance guy (that's for tomorrow). And I probably won't shower until 4pm when I have to get ready for a RE/MAX party in Venice.

Home Sweet Home

2010-09-30T11:17:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I went to the Children's Hospital to fill out paperwork for my job starting in November. After 3.5 hours of drug testing, W-4 forms, a medication calculation test, respirator fittings, and blood draws, I am officially an employee!

In honor of their contributions to the Childrens' Miracle Network, the hospital had RE/MAX day. Sandra's offices received an award for contributing the most money in 2009. The PICU project manager showed us an awesome demonstration of the new robot doctor they have been working on. And, we went on a tour of the new hospital (not opening to the public until July 2011). It was awesome getting a sneak peak of my new home.... I have missed the hospital!
John wanted a picture with the power towers in the new rooms... absolutely no wall outlets!

p.s. It's official folks! After 3.5 hours at the DMV on Tuesday I am now a California resident!

(not my real license plate)

Back to Utah

2010-09-27T08:31:00.003-06:00

Apparently boring is not in my cards this year. Due to the over saturation of flu shot clinics at grocery stores, malls, pharmacies... my company cut a billion shifts. Instead of 20+ days in the October I was left with 5 sad clinics. Besides the cancellations leaving my bank account depressed, I suddenly found myself with nothing to do for a month. (In-laws are takin off for a few days, Skyler is studying for midterms and writing papers, and I have 0 friends to explore LA with.) I was going to be beyond the "bored" I had requested earlier.
All was lost for October until this weekend when opportunity came knocking. My favorite employer invited me back for the month so I would have something to do until I start my job at Children's Hospital LA in November! I was a bit hesitant but Skyler told me it was a great opportunity and he wouldn't be around much anyway. So... the flight is booked and I am coming back October 3rd!
I feel like a big kid on a business trip and I can now vouch that it is a hard decision to leave the hubby for a month! No worries, I'm not a completely awful wife... I will be coming back for 3 days to attend a Children's Hospital luncheon. Sounds terrible, but I swear he told me to go! See you soon Utah!

Night of the Living Dead

2010-09-19T01:05:00.002-06:00

Skyler and I decided to embrace the LA scene and start going out on the weekends. Tonight we went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and watched the 1960s movie, Night of the Living Dead! We didn't realize that tonight was the last movie of the season and the cemetery was packed with people. Not being used to Saturday night traffic we barely made the cut for parking!

Although an incredibly cheesey movie it was pretty fun picnicking in a cemetery while watching a zombie flick. Also, I'm pretty sure I got a little high with all the marijuana smoke in the air...we definately aren't in Utah anymore!

On the way home we decided to take Vine and Wilshire to get to the 405. I was in love with the beautiful clothes and cars displayed in the windows. We passed Rodeo Drive and decided our next adventure will be Rodeo Drive, dressed up, window shopping, and quoting Pretty Woman. Maybe one day we will be able to afford a weekend at the Beverly Hilton, until than we will be at the in-laws house :).

Dear Grandma, we love you

2010-09-19T00:48:00.003-06:00

I am officially a grandparent orphan. Grandma Terry passed away early this morning at a rehabilitation center in Utah. A little less than two weeks ago Grandma had a massive stroke and I flew out to Utah expecting to attend her funeral. I know it sounds morbid but the doctor said that only 5% of people survive the type of stroke she experienced so we thought it was her time. Of course she would have nothing to do with these statistics and she woke up the next morning chatting a little bit and sleeping a lot. After a week in the hospital they transfered her to a rehab center to start getting her moving, talking and eating again (she had a feeding tube placed). Yesterday she was chatting a bit, answering questions and wheeling around the rehab center, around 3 this morning she passed in her sleep.
Crazy how things change so quickly. It definately was unexpected but I know that she was miserable not being at home. That little lady loved her house and garden! She will be missed but I'm sure she is loving every moment being with Grandpa. After 11 years she gets to be with her hubby again!

Guess Who!

2010-09-15T22:46:00.003-06:00

Today I worked in Pacific Palisades, about 25 minutes from Pepperdine and 5 minutes from the beach. While chilling/working in the Pharmaca a familiar face walked in...

After a very awkward exchange of names... I verified that he played George Bluth and then asked his real name... we had a forced conversation about insurance and his twins. I can't decide if he is ridiculously sarcastic or just not friendly. Maybe he will come back tomorrow and we will give it another round. I think I might make sure the money is still in the banana stand.

Hello Real World

2010-09-15T09:37:00.004-06:00

Until I start my job at Children's Hospital LA, I am working for a company giving flu shots. I travel around LA County and set up shop each day at Walmarts, Sam's Clubs, Pharmacas (organic, vegan, natural themed pharmacies)... pretty much anywhere my company send me.

I went back to work Monday and headed for a Walmart off Crenshaw. I pulled up to a three story Walmart connected to a mall, next to the "biggest bus stop" in mid LA and discovered I was very much the minority.

I worked with Yvonne, a 67 year old from Mississippi who came to LA when they first started to establish infection control protocols. She's the one that made sure nurses wore their gowns and gloves and washed their hands after each patient. Anyway, our clinic was pretty slow and so Yvonne and I spent the majority of our day people watching. Being the only blonde, blue eyed, white girl in a crowd of African American, Hispanic, Chinese, and greenie Europeans I learned a lot.

1. When people don't want the flu shot they suddenly have the flu.
2. The mall has three recognizable stores... Macy's, Foot Locker and TJ Maxx everything else is along the lines of African Queen, and Bad Boyz clothes.
3. The African Americans love their rhinestone studded Obama t-shirts.
4. Leggings are the in thing and apparently so are intense panty lines.
5. English is definately a second language and I need to learn Spanish quick!

I also saw a hefty Latina pick up her prescription and purchase 2 bags of starbursts and velvetta cheese. I chatted with a man from Jamaica who believed that private insurance was going to bankrupt America and send it back to the 20s. A cute black lady from Miami paid me $5 for letting me borrow my phone. And, when a guy noticed Yvonne and I watching him in the condom aisle he put back the box in his hand and grabbed a box of magnum XL.

I think that pretty much sums up the last 2 days. California just became a pretty interesting place.

I LIKE BORING

2010-09-10T13:40:00.002-06:00

I thought it would be fun to be adventurous and travel this summer. After 3 trips to CA, our little cruise to Mexico, 2 weeks in Missouri, weekends in Logan, SLC, and Eden, moving to LA, visiting San Fran, & back to Utah for a wedding... I'm so over travelling! I like boring! I like making dinner, going to bed at a normal hour, finishing my "to-do" lists, having structure!

It took me all summer to complete one task... I read a book. Just one. I've had it since December and finally September 7th I finished it! Granted it was read at work, while Skyler was at school, and summer was officially over. And of course the day I finished the book I was on another plane flying back to Utah for another week.

So here is my boring request... no more weddings, no more family trips, no more summer, no more strokes! Just want to get back to my boring life, with my currently boring job so that I can maintain some sanity! When Christmas comes I'll maybe consider leaving the greater LA region, until then I want to be boring!

2010-08-09T09:20:00.003-06:00

Skyler and I made use of every minute our last few days in Provo. Between Lost Boys softball games, work, and driving around the state of Utah visiting friends, we were utterly exhausted when moving week finally came. After hours of cleaning (thanks kristy for the help) we made it out of the apartment in time to shoot the guns with the Paynes, celebrate Jayson's b-day at Cheesecake, make a bon voyage party in Eden, have an awesome Korean dinner in Spanish Fork, and catch up with Laura and Colter (p.s. that all happened in 2 days... yes, lots of driving!).

Instead of leaving for CA on August 2 like we had anticipated, we helped my mom paint her duplex in SLC. Sky and I also spent a couple hours babysitting Kayson and made ice cream with Bre and Cory.

Tuesday we packed up the cars and ran a few errands. Since CA has a strict hands-free rule we went to the verizon store and bought bluetooths. We had an early dinner with some friends and family at my beloved 5 Guys, and hit the road.

We stopped in St. George for the night and finished the drive Wednesday morning. It's official... Skyler and I are now Californians! CRAZY!

Definately missing friends however the beach is fantastic and running at sea level definately makes a person feel invincible!

Of course, Sky and I can't figure out how to settle down and enjoy our last days of summer so we are headed to San Fran tomorrow. Per Sky's request we will be visiting Hurst castle on the way to Danville, spending Wednesday in the city, and Thursday in Nappa, Friday is my parent's good-bye party and Saturday we are headed back to San Fran to visit family. So, if anyone is in northern cali this week, hit up the cell, we'd love to see ya!

Quick update

2010-07-13T21:45:00.002-06:00

I thought life would be easy once April 22 came along... boy was I wrong! Here is a quick update about what we've been doing the past 4 months. (sorry there are no pics but i dont have the time/energy to post them).

~I graduated from BYU with a BS emphasizing in nursing.
~I started a summer job as an LPN at Reproductive Care Center in Sandy. It's only 3 times a week but the hour commute there and back makes for a long day!
~ The first of May Bre and Austin got married in San Diego and had their reception on a yacht... awesome!
~ The day after the wedding Sky and I went honeymoon crashing and joined Bre and Austin on a 7 day cruise to Mexico.
~ When we got back to land I discovered a message from the LA Children's Hospital on my voicemail wanting to set up an interview. 2 weeks after getting back from CA, I hoped on a plane and was back in LA.
~ The first of June Sky was playing softball and demolished his back. 3 days later he went to the Dr and was given lots of good drugs for a possible displaced/ ruptured disc.
~ June 3rd Tay and Abbey got hitched in SLC and had a beautiful reception. Tay got lucky, Abbey is great and we love them both.
~ June was full of cramming for my RN licensing test. June 12th I took the dreaded NCLEX-RN, finished in 75 questions and 1.5 hours and PASSED! Yep... Melissa Sanders RN.
~ 4 days after taking my test Sky and I drove to LA for interview #2 at Children's Hospital LA. My interview was at 10am and at 5pm I received a call offering me a job. November 1st is my first day as a PICU nurse at CHLA!! Dream job!
~ After my interview (literally right after) we drove to Sacramento for Cory and Bre's wedding weekend. Bre is fabulous, we love having her in the fam too!
~ We took a quick trip to Cale and Lana's for a fantastic BBQ and then spent the evening with my cousin Tiffy and her family outside of Sac.
~ On our drive back to UT we committed to house sitting for Sky's uncle and aunt in Provo.
~ When Sky and I got home we had 2 days to collect ourselves before heading off to Missouri with the Terry family.
~ We went to the church sites, a Royal's game, the Hallmark visitor's center, Federal Reserve, and spent a week in Branson (boating, golfing, shows, amusement parks).
~ We are finally back in Provo and have 18 days to pack, clean, and visit friends before our move to California.

I thought my summer would be filled with lounging and relaxing, scrapbooking, reading.... haha silly me, I have too many projects and too little time, but Sky and I are loving every minute of it!

A New Approach

2010-03-26T10:10:00.002-06:00

This past week I had my first official RN job interview.. it was no bueno! I attribute it to poor preparation and a terrible job application. So yesterday I decided to take a different approach to applying to jobs; no more BSing my way through 5 applications in a day! I've also decide I should probably start focusing on my projects so I can pass my classes and actually graduate in 4 weeks. This weekend is dedicated to school. I'm getting it all done by April 3rd... wish me luck!

p.s. I've also decided its time to get into cruise shape. My friend and I started Jillian Michael's 30 day shred...OMG, fantastic if you combo it with a run or pilates!

p.p.s. Skyler wants to burn down his work building. Time for him to find a fun job for the summer. Any suggestions?

A little piece of heaven

2010-03-24T13:37:00.004-06:00

In the midst of running around like a headless chicken, I have found a little piece of heaven. The last few months Skyler and I have been going to Costco and passing by a delicious looking box of cookies. Yesterday I finally caved and brought the little beauties home. AMAZING! I'm suprised that Sky and I haven't consumed the whole box yet!!

Carr's Ginger Lemon Cremes

A little midweek vacation

2010-03-05T16:43:00.007-07:00

Skyler has been applying to law schools and over the last few weeks has received some great news.... people want him! He's been accepted to a handful of school and is still waiting to hear back from more! It's awesome to know that he is that much closer to being finished with school and enjoying his career.

One of his acceptances has come from PennState and they offered him lots of money... always a plus. So, this past week we flew out to PA to check out the campus and enjoy a little R&R.

We arrived in Philadelphia Tuesday night, quickly grabbed our bags, and headed to the rental car place. Like usual the economy car we had pre-ordered was "out of stock", so they "upgraded" us to a buick minivan... opposite of economic. Annoyed that we would have to drive 300+ miles in gas guzzler, we requested the bright blue PT Cruiser instead.

We soon discovered that leaving Philadelphia at 530pm is not a good idea when all the major highways are two laners. But we enjoyed driving past the boathouses and watching the local rowing teams practicing out on the river. About 45 minutes later we finally made it to the 76, also known as the most expensive tollroad EVER! It was $7+ in fees to drive to Harrisburg.

Halfway through our trip we stopped in Morgantown for some grub. In Morgantown there is a RiteAid, gas station, McDonalds and three local taverns/family restaurants. Feeling adventurous we decided to dine at The Old Tavern and Bar. Our quaint little restaurant was attached to a noisy bar filled with angry drunks... hysterical! Skyler ordered the Texas Longhorn Ground Beefsteak, and the waitress was so pleased to inform us that she knew the boy whose father raised the steer. Yep, our cow came straight off the farm. :) I got the chicken covered with crabmeat... delicious! After 30minutes of waiting for our tab, we finally booked it out of the tavern right as they started playing Sweet Home Alabama.

We hopped back on the expensive tollroad, and drove into Harrisburg in time to watch the Biggest Loser. I finished writing a paper for the Hershey's Children's Hospital around midnight and tried to fall asleep. I quickly learned that sleeping for 6 hours on an airplane kills the REM cycle. Sky was out cold and I woke up about 40 times.

The next morning we woke up at 630 (so much for R&R) and got ready for our tours. We hopped on the side roads and drove through the countryside to get to Carlisle, PA, where one of the law school campuses is located. The drive was rainy but beautiful. The great thing about central PA is the little communities separated by rolling hills, forests and farms.

Carlisle was so old school and looked like a scene from Gilmore Girls. The law school building was newly renovated and super state of the art. They have webcams in the classrooms and microphones at each desk. Awesome! Skyler liked the building and the tourguide was really nice, so we'll see if we end up there. Unfortunately, our trip to Carlisle was cut short because I had a meeting/interview at the PennState Hershey Children's Hospital (not actually a children's hospital). We booked it up to Hershey and I had the most awkward meeting/interview of my life!

The nurse recruiter I had arranged to meet with was out sick and so I got his assistant. She was a little clueless as to why I was meeting with her and so we ended up having a random conversation about benefits, and the hospital. At the end of our convo she asked me if I wanted to see the PICU, and she called the nurse manager last minute to meet with me. Awkward interview #2 was held, and then Skyler and I were free to play!

Of course, you can't go to Hershey, PA without going to the candy factory. I have been several times but Sky was a Chocolate World virgin, so it brought me much joy to give him this experience. After the Hershey's Chocolate World ride, we got our free candy and enjoyed the beauty of an entire floor devoted to Hershey's merchandise. Clearly my favorite part was the Reese's peanut butter cove. Amazingness! Guess what! They now make dark chocolate peanut butter cups and Reese's cookies!

After our adventure at Hershey's we headed for Philly. In an attempt to avoid the ridiculous tollroad, we took the side road to Lancaster aka amish land. Once again we experienced a beautiful drive and enjoyed the scenery.

Yep, that's right folks, they have parking spots for the horse and buggy.

We finally arrived to Philly just in time to see the Liberty Bell before it closed. We then wandered around Philadelphia until our noses were frozen and we were starving. I was adament about going to my favorite cheesesteak place (I had not been in 8 years), unfortunately 8 years can really ruin something divine and we ate fairly decent, overpriced, food.

After dinner we went and visited Rocky at the Art Museum and had our pictures taken with him. In honor of his intense training session, we too ran up the infamous stairs.
We really should have called it a night after our Rocky adventure, but instead we decided to drive to the old prision. Google maps was a lifesaver as we tried to navigate our way back to the hotel through a sketchy part of town (a schizophrenic man yelled at our car...I thought we were dead). Unfortunately, the road signs are not as magnificent and googlemaps and we ended up missing our onramp and heading for New Jersey. We quickly discovered that Trenton is far scarier then creepy schizo man. Twenty minutes later we finally found the horrid 76 bridge and paid another $4 to cross back over to PA. We made it to our hotel in time for Modern Family, and enjoyed a nice relaxing evening free from crazy people.

Thursday morning we drove to the airport, returned our little PT Cruiser, hopped onto our airplane (we couldn't sit together b/c we forgot to check-in the night before), and made it home in time for The Office.

All in all it was a great trip with long hours, and I can't wait for the weekend to start!

Dreaming

2010-02-24T15:02:00.009-07:00

Today has been a gross day full of paper writing and rainy/snow stuff, thankfully I can look forward to this.....

which is taking us here..... Where hopefully we will be doing lots of..... And.... And....

Dear summer vacation, please come soon!

xoxo,

Melissa

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-20T22:46:00.004-07:00

We spent our Valentine's Day morning having breakfast with mom, Katie, and baby (Jayson had to work). I made Grandma Sander's breakfast casserole and found a great orange-raspberry roll recipe. YUMMY! It was such lazy day of lounging, movie watching and church.

Uncle Skyler hanging out with the munchkin.

I found myself a great napping buddy!

Hi Again

2010-02-18T14:42:00.005-07:00

As of February 5 at 545pm, Skyler and I are officially an aunt and uncle!! Kayson Robert was born and is perfect and handsome and adorable... insert any lovely word here ______. Congrats Katie and Jayson!

Living for the Weekend

2009-10-06T13:39:00.003-06:00

The past two weeks have been incredibly busy! I had two test, two papers, and lots of homework due within 5 days. Although stressful, I survived and have some awesome test scores to show for it! Thank goodness for Bri, she's an awesome study buddy.

Friday I worked for Mollen Immunization giving flu shots at the WalMart in Springville. I was amazed at how many people used medicare to get their free flu shots. Seriously, it was ridiculous!

After work Skyler and I went to his mission reunion in Pleasant Grove. We were a bit early and so we drove up to the temple and stopped by the distribution center. I love the PG temple, it's majestic sitting at the top of a hill. It was fun to meet Sky's mission companions and we had yummy taco salads. Unfortunately, we had to bail early to make it to the Utah State vs BYU football game. The people that sit behind us are incredibly obnoxious and so I spent the majority of the game annoyed by their stupid comments. The game itself was fun and it was a great way to kick off our weekend.

Saturday, Davita came over and had waffles with us for breakfast. After eating we packed up and headed to Heber City with the Jeppesen's. Libbi's family owns a beautiful cabin in the mountains of Heber and she and Garon invited us to join them for the weekend. We had a blast relaxing, watching conference, and 4-wheeling around the neighborhood. When the men went to the Priesthood session, Jocelyn and I went 4-wheeling together which led to lots of drama! This crazy neighbor started yelling at us for being on "private property" (we were on public land) and told us he would call the cops if I didn't back up on the hill I was half-way down. It was my first time 4-wheeling alone and almost had a panic attack trying to back the stupid machine up a hill. The man was all dressed up for priesthood and Jocey and I found it rather funny that during the session a general authority discussed not being easily angered. Hope that man felt like he was getting a GIANT slap on the wrists!

Sunday we had a yummy waffle breakfast and enjoyed two more sessions of conference before heading to SLC for dinner with Grandma Terry. Sky and I made enchiladas for Grandma, and my cousins Andrea, Faiver, Nate and Andrea's two friends. The enchiladas turned out great, even though it took forever to cook in Grandma's 30+ year old oven. Afterwards we cleaned up and were reprimanded by crazy gma for living in such a little apartment. She always is complaining about something!

All in all our weekend was fantastic and it was great listening to Conference. We loved being able to relax and snuggle by the fireplace. (it was a woodburning fireplace!) Sky finished reading the first Harry Potter book and has started the second. I pseudo-studied for my psych test but mostly enjoyed eating lots of yummy food and visiting with family.

Thanks again Libbi and Garon for the awesome weekend!

Our Weekend

2009-09-22T13:56:00.003-06:00

Highlights: I went to a baby shower with yummy food! Congrats Jamie!
-Grandpa and Grandma Jeppesen visited and brough peaches, strawberry jam, pears, carrots and potatoes.
-Bree and Cory made bomb avocado dip while we pre-gamed at the apartment.
-Washington beat USC
-We were on the big screen at the football game... twice :)
-Watched a military helicopter take off from 30 feet away.
- Had delicious Panda Express at 10pm
-Made delicious peanut butter swirl brownies.
-Watched season 5 of The Office.
-Enjoyed some NFL games...completely unemotional and unattached.. felt great!

Sad face moments: BYU lost to Florida State.
-Utah lost to Oregon
- Got stuck doing TONS of homework.
- The weekend was too short!

Catching Up

2009-09-16T20:07:00.006-06:00

Clearly Sky and I aren't very good at updating our blog so here's a synopsis of our lives so far.

February: February 13th was the Monster Truck Rally... hick heaven... it was AWESOME!
We spent Valentine's Day with Julie, Jocelyn, Dave and Grandma Terry at the Cheesecake Factory.

Sky turned 24 and we spent the week eating! I attempted Sandra's Jumbalya, it was delicious!

March: School, school, school!

April: John and Julie came to town for Jocelyn's bridal shower and Conference.

Skyler and Katie graduated!

May: I turned 22.

We spent a couple days at Lake Arrowhead wakeboarding and shopping.

Jocelyn and Dave tied the knot in San Diego!

June: I finished spring semester classes and summer finally started!

John and Julie came out for a Jeppesen family reunion in Grantsville.

We finally traded in the love sac for a couch and a sweet coffee table.

Katie and Jayson found out that baby #1 was on the way!

July: Vern and Cristy took the family to Florida and Disneyworld!

Sky and I went to DC for Joe and Nicole's wedding and visited with some friends. :)

Skyler started his job at Brad Myler Disability.

August: I quit Cheesecake Factory and passed my LPN test.

Cristy came out for the Young family reunion in Kaysville.

We went to the Salt Lake Real game and hiked Mt. Timp.

Sky worked and I helped Katie set up her Kindergarten classroom in Eagle Mountain.

September: School started... 1 more year!

Jake and Heather got married in SLC.

BYU beat #3 OU 14-13, and slaughtered Tulaine... we ended up ranked #7 in the AP poll.

So there you have it, currently I am doing my psychiatric rotation at the Utah State Hospital and Sky is working at Myler Disability. Today I got an awesome CD in which each song demonstrates a psychiatric disorder, Sky and I had a great time listening and trying to decide if the song was about schizophrenia, depression, alcoholism etc. Sky's job has definately exposed him to the world of mental disorders!

Also, we got our home game football tickets.. we are section 33, row 1 seat 15 and 16= front front row behind the football team on the 40. GO COUGS!

Burn Out

2009-02-09T09:50:00.002-07:00

Well, it is official, Skyler and Melissa are burnt out with school. I for one would not complain of a life filled with banana splits and watching Plant Earth continuously, but others might oppose to such a sedentary, yet delicious lifestyle. But it is at this hour that we have resolved to go to the gym, do our homework, and only eat sweets on the weekend (so much for turning into a couch food item). So if you do see us being lethargic, remind us that we are no longer acting apathetic.

8 Movies, 4 days

2009-01-20T17:47:00.003-07:00

This past weekend was incredibly relaxing. Friday, I had to work and so Skyler spent the night at home watching movies and doing homework. I wonder how much homework he actually did... :). Saturday we slept in for the first time since school started (sleeping in was 930. hahaha.) We had a great morning making breakfast (eggs and turkey bacon... yum) and watching the end of Shrek. While all our friends were at the Canyons, we hit the basement of the Benson to do hours of homework. :( Luckily we had a chance to take a break, go out to dinner and hit the bowling alley. I beat Skyler... the first time in awhile!
Sunday we went to church and watched a movie before going to Jocelyn's for dinner with her and Dave. Jocey made a great meal which was topped off with a game of Rummy. Dont' ask how that one went! (Skyler stole my card...EVIL! :) ) When we got home we put off homework and started watching Harry Potter.
Monday we did a bit of homework, cleaned, watched Happy Gilmore, and went to Park City with Jocelyn, Dave and Katie. We hit up the outlets and swung by Cheesecake Factory for dinner on our way home. It was really fun! yay for buffalo wings! We finished up our movie marathon with the fifth Harry Potter movie! Great movie!! (If anyone was wondering... Lunna likes pudding :) )
We lacked a bit of productivity but we sure had fun busting out the movies!!! Too bad we're back to the real world this week. It was fun while it lasted!

Bubbles

2009-01-13T16:16:00.002-07:00

After two very snowy days the beginning of last week, the snow finally started to melt and we experienced bubbly walls for the first time!
The exterior walls of our little apartment are composed of concrete... not only are they difficult to drill into, they also form a lot of condensation. On top of the normal condensation we started to notice our bedroom carpet was wet and the paint was starting to bubble. Guess what happens when you pop paint bubbles.... they gush! Our poor carpet got a nice bath and we had the joys of dealing with landlords and repairmen. Thankfully we have a wonderful landlady who actually comes to the apartment within a reasonable amount of time (unlike our management from past residences).
It was proposed that the melty snow leaked into our house... the location of the leak is not known but our carpet has been fanning out for the last 3 days and is cold but almost dry. Married life so far has been an adventure! We are still enjoying it and are thankful that we have a place to live during such a gross winter!!

Back to School!

2009-01-06T19:27:00.002-07:00

Yep! After 13 months we are finally married and enjoying our new little home; unfortunately, our time together has drastically decreased in the last two days! School has started again, meaning hours on campus, lots of homework and no more college football games (at least until next season :( ). Apparently it also means TONS of snow!!!!! It has snowed for the last 2 days! Sky and I decided today that snow is only enjoyable in two instances....1) when you are warm and cozy inside watching movies 2) when you are snowboarding. As mentioned above, our little house is difficult to warm, so we might have to take a snow day tomorrow and hit the slopes. ;) YaY for half days at sundance!

New Life

2009-01-06T19:14:00.003-07:00

With the beginning of the New Year, Skyler and Melissa celebrate their new lives together. Finding themselves closer than they ever thought possible--especially due to the fact that they live in a small cottage now that never seems to get warm--they are happy that they can embark on this new adventure with one another