SupercaliRascalLiciousexpialidocious!

Holey moley, last night was one of the best of my entire life.

I sang and danced and basked in the glory of my favorite band.

And to think, the night before I was not excited to go and was trying to find someone to take our tickets. Not only did I have Justin worried since I have been wanting to go to a Rascal Flatts concert for years, I had Nicholas worried about my sanity and he even said: "Mom, you LOVE Rascal Flatts. You need to go." Well, I did and after the concert Justin asked me if I had a good time and I told him I would have been crazy not to go. It was AMAZING.

Justin and I before the concert started:


Jessica Simpson opened for them and um, let's just say it was the longest 30 or so minutes of my life. That is all I am going to say about her. But here she is, I mean, she is famous and all...



And then these boys came on. Do they ever know how to put on a show! In addition to the amazing show put on by these fine men, I was also lucky enough to observe a girl fight in the bathroom. I know, I'm a lucky girl. I didn't even have to pay for a ticket to see that one!

It was so nice to go on such a fun date with Justin. He isn't a country fan so I was worried that he wouldn't enjoy himself and that he would think that I was making a complete fool of myself dancing around. Not quite like a crazed teenager, but I could not stay in my seat for long. He told me after the concert that it was one of the best concerts he has been to. I guess we will have to see if they top it next year!

Happy Home Evening

This is what Luke was calling it all night last night and so I think we are officially changing the name.

We rolled out our theme of the year to the boys and I think it will be good for all of us to remember to try our best to live to our fullest potential. Our main focus is on the 13th article of faith. How could you not be a better person if you were honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, did good to all men, and sought after the good things in life? I feel such a responsiblity raising boys because they have a bad rap. I want my boys to be good examples and although I know they will make mistakes along the way, my hope is that they will have an inate sense of duty and good.

In another excellent talk by Elder Russell M. Nelson, , he mentions FOCUS as one of the three basic scriptural themes to achieve the goal of the celestial kingdom. He states:
"Imagine, if you will, a pair of powerful binoculars. Two separate optical systems are joined together with a gear to focus two independent images into one three-dimensional view. To apply this analogy, let the scene on the left side of your binoculars represent your perception on your task. Let the picture on the right side represent the Lord's perspective of your task-the portion of His plan He has entrusted to you. Now, connect your system to His. By mental adjustment, fuse your focus. Something wonderful happens. Your vision and His are now the same. You have developed an "eye single to the glory of God."

There is also another wonderful talk "Know your Rights." We are also focusing on one of these a week. It states: "Now, one dictionary definition of focus is "the center of interest and activity." In other words, you have to concentrate onthings that are really important in your life. Consider how important focus is in photography. A camera has a device that enables you to focus on your subject. But notice that without light it is not possible to make pictures. The same is true for focusing on important issues in life. We need the light of the Savior, who said through the Prophet Joseph Smith: "And now, remember the words of him who is the life and light of the world, your Redeemer, your Lord and Your God." If you learn early in life to develop the right attitude, it will stay with you for the rest of your life."

The last talk I will link to is one of my most favorite talks about mothers by Elder M. Russell Ballard. I just love it.

I hope no one thinks I am trying to preach or that I am a theologian. I need to redirect my life and want to lead my children down the right path. I know this post was long and might not be of interest to anyone, but having this word in the back of my mind reminds me of who I want to be. I am hoping that it might help others as well so enjoy.

I need to vent.

Holy moley.

The last two nights at work have been absolutely insane. Wednesday night was not only super busy but we also had a small flood...about 5000 gallons small...that has temporarily disabled some of our rooms on the unit. This made for a very interesting night last night because the patients that we could normally put into our long term observation rooms (antepartum rooms for those in the know) were put in our labor rooms which made things VERY tight.

Last night we had 4 patients with very bad tracings, pretty much everyone was sick with high blood pressures, doctors were not making plans and if they were making plans they were not talking to me about them, I had the disaster team breathing down my neck at the beginning of the shift, and c section after crash c section after c section, a doctor that wanted to get her elective induction in at 6:00 in the morning and even though I told her multiple times that we literally had NO ROOMS kept telling me that her patient was anxious and would go really fast and kept calling(guess who!!) ...time seemed to stand still.

There were some good highlights however. My coworkers rocked in the teamwork department, I could have literally kissed my HUC on the lips for keeping up my board. The patient we had that even though she was very nervous on her way to the OR for her crash C/S that reminded her husband to bring the camera. The baby had a heart issue that required it to be passed to the NBICU. Baby did great and stabilized quickly so I went to get the dad to take him to see the baby. Upon entering the OR to get the dad, I saw the pt was vomiting. The patient told the husband between heaves to go see the baby and again reminded him to not forget the camera. I just thought it was so cute because she was already putting her baby first and didn't want to miss a moment of its little life even in the midst of her discomfort. We had another sweet dad that after hearing mom and baby were okay after their crash C/S cried because he was so relieved. It really is so nice to see couples who care so much about each other and their sweet, new bundle.

I am glad there are these shining moments within the chaos because it does make it worth going back. It is also nice to know that it is my weekend off and laboring, sick, preterm, crazy busy insanity will be the last thing on my mind.

HEARTfelt

This Valentine's day isn't one to go down in the history books. We didn't do anything too exciting or have anything planned due to the fact that I was scheduled to work Friday and Saturday night.

When I got home Saturday morning, I had heart shaped waffles waiting for me that Justin and the boys had made. The boys were so excited to give me this simple gift for Valentines day and help make my day special. I feel bad that all I did was sleep and not much was planned for them, but don't feel too bad for us, we are planning to have a super fun day on Monday and celebrate a belated V-day because there is NO SCHOOL and NO WORK for anyone. YAY!

I also realized that my year has ended for my gratitude journal. Although I have not been very diligent the last couple weeks, this exercise really helped me put things in perspective for me. As I was reading through the entries, the things I was grateful for became more and more meaningful and there were definate common themes throughout many of the posts. My boys, my family, the gospel, good values, diet coke, and my hubby.

I feel that Justin gets lost in the hustle and bustle of my everyday life and sometimes it can feel that we are roommates rather than husband and wife. It is hard to even have a simple conversation let alone have a regular date night with the crazy schedules not only Justin and I have but the boys' as well. There are multiple conversations going on at the dinner table at the same time and if there are not conversations there is screaming, fighting, laughing, crying, or some other sort of noise going on that requires our attention away from each other. I love my boys so much and would and will do anything in the world for them, but Justin is the one who came first. He is my love, my sweetheart, my best friend. I still get butterflies when I see him and when he is all dressed up and smelling amazing I want to attack him. *purrrrr* Babe, I just want you to know that I still choose you first, I love you dearly and am grateful we have eternity to be together.

I know of some people who have a word or a phrase they concentrate on during a year to help them complete goals or become a better person. I like this idea and am officially implementing this now. I figure because of my gratitude journal my catch phrase last year was GRATITUDE. Making myself list things I am grateful for everyday shifted my priorities to what is really important in life. This year our word is FOCUS. FOCUS on what is really important. We are going to introduce our word for FHE on Monday night and I hope to post things this year that will help me FOCUS on my family, how to be a wonderful wife and mother, the gospel, and how to be more like the Savior. It is a long journey but baby steps will get me where I need to be. I just will have to FOCUS.

February checklist

I am a bit late with this but really, I have been busy! I also have neglegted my poor blog but have resolve to do better. Here are the items for February...

First aid kits:Just get one. There is a boy in my ward who is working on his Eagle Project and ordering them. If you would like one, let me know. There are not specific things listed, just get one that will be appropriate for your family.

Consecrated Oil

CASH

Free:Learn how to shut off water.

1. Justin's graduation party was super fun. I am going to have to post pictures tomorrow...you will be jealous of the cake we had.
2. Our family is soooooo supportive on both sides. I don't know what we would do without them!
3. I am making time and a half on my per diem pay just sitting here watching an antepartum patient...my mind is reeling with the possibilities I could do with the extra money.

1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I am soooo sorry you are sick today! My mom is an inspiration. She can seriously do anything...she knits socks, was in the Tabernacle Choir, is a fabulous cook, sews costumes at a moments notice, is a kind and service oriented neighbor and friend, plans a mean party, and she can even pick up mice and kill them by hitting them over the head with a hammer and not even flinch. I always think to myself that I have to hurry up and be as amazing as she because before long my boys will be asking me to do all the insane things I ask my mom to do. I still talk to my mom everyday and I cherish the relationship I have with her. I love you!
2. Even though Vogue says that roots are "in" and say "I am a busy woman", I got my hair done and it is amazing how much better just that one little thing makes you feel. I also got my eyebrows waxed and it is a good thing because Governor Huntsman called me and told me my brows were going to be the next national forest if I didn't do it soon.
3. I was called off again last night so I have an extra day to prepare for Justin's party on Saturday!

1. I am done with Sunday nights at IMC...at least for six months. And for the next six months my scheduled shifts are half of what I am working now. Ahhhhhhh.
2. that I was able to go to work last night leaving my husband with his little boy face on, surrounded by all 4 little boys, holding a can of spray whip cream. I can tell you it was probably better I wasn't there to see the results of that one.
3. I have successfully hidden my camera from Liam and that is no easy feat!