utah vs ucla

score: 27-34

the blackout game.

we have had some good success with the blackout in the past, but not this year.

our 2 losses this season have been heart-wrenching, down to the wire games.

we stayed with the #12 team in the nation all the way to the end, even with 6 (yes 6) interceptions.

while "almost" doesn't count, it sure has made us proud of our utes!

i was somehow scheduled to work a day shift which means i should get off work about 7:30pm,

which was cutting it pretty close to the 8:00pm kick-off time.

of course it was a crazy day so i didn't get off til exactly 8, so dawson picked me up and drove like a maniac to get us there.

i was lucky enough however, to take care of a patient that day who was the biggest ute fan in the hospital.

he came up from surgery and the first thing he told me was to find his ute blanket.

and then told me how devastated he was that he wouldn't make it to the game that night.

when he found out i was going to the game and that i had a little bit of a connection to the utes, 

he was thrilled and insisted his wife take a picture of us.
i don't want to get in trouble with HIPPA though, so i had to do a little editing.
however it is an uncanny resemblance.

no, football isn't everything.

but to me and this guy, it is pretty dang important!!!

nurse missy

     this last week was my 2 year anniversary at my job as an RN on the "orthopedic trauma and surgical specialties" floor at the university of utah hospital (i know it sounds very intense and, trust me, at times it is!).  most days are so crazy that time flies by, which is actually really nice when your shift is 12 hours long.  i have gotten over the terrified new nurse phase finally and now love my job, although i am still learning something new almost every day i work.  

here is a list of some things i have learned in the past 2 years:

• waking up and being to work by 7am IS possible, but it helps when your commute is only 5 minutes
• difficult and needy patients are great practice for having kids
• as is working night shifts and surviving on only a few hours of sleep
• as is changing an adult diaper because it's 100x bigger/grosser/stinkier than any baby's diaper ever could be
• some people will claim their pain is at "level 10/10" no matter how many pain medications you give them and no matter how minor their injury is
• the most wussy patients i have ever had are males between the ages of 18 and 35 
• a LOT of people break their femur skiing
• doctors may think they know everything, but a lot of times the nurses know more than they do
• sometimes you give enough narcotics to tranquilize a horse and it doesn't even phase an 80lb grandma because of all the meds she takes at home
• having great co-workers makes all the difference in the world
• having your best friend work on the same floor as you is the best thing ever, even though you rarely have time to talk to each other when you work together
• the waffles we consistently make and eat on nightshifts at 2am do not help your waistline
• the most annoying thing is having a patient in pain, and you can't give them anything unless the doctor orders it (and the doctor doesn't return your page for hours and then only orders tylenol)
• people on drugs and/or alcohol + motorized vehicles = bad combination 
• a paper cut is the absolute worst thing ever because you use hand sanitizer 1,000,000,000 times a day
• i am no longer grossed out by anything anymore and have a hard time recognizing if something is not appropriate to talk about while eating
• nursing is 50% taking care of patients and 50% charting what you did
• there is no better feeling than getting a phone call at 5am from the charge nurse saying they are overstaffed and you don't need to come in that day 
• beeping IV pumps haunt me in my sleep, even after i have been home for hours
• the first thing i notice about a person isn't their smile, their hair or their eyes; it's whether or not they have good veins
• even with all the stress my job puts me through, knowing that i helped somebody and hopefully made a difference in their life makes everything worth it

  

4th of july

even though i had to work in the day, ash and i celebrated the best we knew how:

eating as many calories as possible and wearing our red, white and blue.

the 4th of july is especially dear to our hearts, ever since we were in europe together

and cried with each other when we heard a song playing about america.

we went to sugarhouse park with steve and kayley and the rest of salt lake city.

it's debatable whether we had more fun people watching or firework watching,

but either way it was a perfect 4th of july evening with great friends.

nurse diaries

i love love love my job.
i love where i work, what i do and who i work with.
i'm blessed to be able to be working full time and enjoy doing it.
but i'm not going to lie, 13 hour shifts are exhausting.
especially when it's three 13 hour shifts in three days.
that's 39 hours of work in 72 hours!
meaning i'm at work more than i am at home (or sleeping).

so when my hubby drops everything he has so he can hang out with me when i'm home,
or brings dash to visit me at work on a friday night instead of hanging out with his friends,
it makes it much easier for me to get through the whole 13 hours.

yes i know, i am a VERY lucky girl.

Suga Momma

I'M SO EXCITED!  I just got a job as an RN at the Orthopedic Trauma and Surgical Specialties unit at the University of Utah hospital.  It's where I really wanted to work so I'm really lucky.  Glad to know practicing all those IV's paid off!