Sunday, July 27

Enjoying Utah



Utah is full of samrt poeple


Max and Russ (two of my little brothers) walking to church

Saddie (my family's dog) and Chonkiri are best buds

Russell being Russell

My mom in the backyard

To Utah, family and fun!

We left at 1:45am Saturday morning and started our drive to Payson, UT. We took our time and made multiple stops to stretch our legs and enjoy the views on the way. Our timing was perfect, we missed all traffic on our drive and we were timed perfectly to watch the sunrise in between Flagstaff and Navajo Nation. It was beyond beautiful.

Sunrise
Chonkiri is having a happy time :(
Green green green desert?
Getting closer to the Grand Canyon
Beautiful red rocks
Randy is enjoying the views

Tuesday, July 22

Update on NAU

So I forgot to mention one important bit of information about NAU. Randy is doing their distance learning program that is here is Tucson. The only time we will probably go to the NAU main campus is for graduation.  So we are not moving. Sorry all, you are stuck with us.

Monday, July 21

Guess that Movie

The Quotes
1. "I'm sorry, you missed the delivery, but you know what they say, making the baby's the fun part."
2. "Ratted out by the old lady, harsh."
3. "I'm a crumbly canyon wall and I'm taking you with me."
4. "My ship will tear through your's like tissue paper."
5. "My darling Sabrina, your life is a dream, and now it's over."
6. "You hear that. I asked Jack how he slept. He says 'On me back much'"
7. "Why do they call it Ratatouille? It sounds like rat and butoutie. Rat butoutie.
8. "You took away my victory." "No, I did!"
9. "He touched the butt!"
10. "Donkey's don't have sleeves."
11. "I killed it, Gilbert. I killed it." (Leonardo DiCaprio's best acting BY FAR)
12. "Put that thing back where it came from or so help me."






Don’t peek








The Movies
1. Robots
2. Meet the Robinsons
3. The Emperor’s New Grove
4. Galaxy Quest
5. Sabrina
6. Newsies
7. Ratatouille
8. Mulan
9. Finding Nemo
10. Shrek
11. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
12. Monster’s Inc

Future NAU grad


RANDY WAS ACCEPTED TO NAU TO WORK ON DUAL MAJORS IN SPECIAL AND ELEMENTARY EDUCATION!!!


Here are some tid-bits about NAU.


Established: 1899
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Campus: 738 acres
Athletics: 11 varsity teams
Colors: Blue, sage, and gold
Nickname: Lumberjacks
Mascot: Louie the Lumberjack
Website: http://www.nau.edu/



The university's mission is to provide an outstanding undergraduate residential education strengthened by research, graduate and professional programs, and sophisticated methods of distance delivery. Northern Arizona University emphasizes hands-on experiential learning where students are encouraged to conduct research, author articles, participate in internships, study abroad, and volunteer in their areas of study.


History

Initially named the Northern Arizona Normal School, the institution was formed on September 11, 1899. In 1925, the State of Arizona recognized the school, allowing it to grant the Bachelor of Education degree. Following this change, the school renamed itself Northern Arizona State Teacher's College. In 1929, the name was changed to Arizona State Teacher's College at Flagstaff.
In 1945, its name changed once again to the Arizona State College at Flagstaff. A year later the college began offering Master of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. On May 1, 1966, the school was granted full university status and changed its name to the current Northern Arizona University (or NAU).


College of Education
The College of Education is primarily responsible for preparing professional educators at the university: “Our vision is to prepare educational professionals who create tomorrow’s opportunities.” In addition to future teachers, the college prepares counselors, school psychologists, and administrators. The college draws on the best practices of the past, experimenting with and researching new ideas, and helps professionals becomeleaders in education. The college's mission is to prepare competent and committed professionals who will make positive differences for children, young adults, and others in schools.
Accredited by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the college was ranked seventh in the nation for providing degrees in education to all minorities.
Fields of study include teaching and learning (e.g., early childhood, elementary, secondary, and science education), educational leadership, educational psychology, and educational specialties(e.g., bilingual and multicultural education, career and technical education, educational technology, and special education).


Distance Learning
Northern Arizona University maintains campuses throughout Arizona that offer numerous alternatives to the traditional learning experience including evening, weekend and accelerated classes.
For more than 30 years, NAU has provided higher education opportunities to students through distance learning. As a result, students have access to high quality, flexible degree programs that meet the needs of today’s busy students—often in their own communities. Through distance learning, the university is helping Arizona meet its workforce development needs both in urban and rural areas.
The U.S. Distance Learning Association, the nation's premier distance learning organization, honored Northern Arizona University's Distance Learning with the 2007 21st Century Best Practice Distance Learning Award. The award goes to institutions with outstanding leadership, innovation, and technology in distance learning.
Northern Arizona University currently offers more than 123 degree, certificate, and endorsement programs in person and/or on the web. The majority of Distance Learning students are learning in-person in classrooms across the state at 38 different locations throughout Arizona. One-third of Northern Arizona University students are served through Distance Learning.

I feel boring

I'd have never thought that the life of a critical care nurse would be boring, but it is. I do more or less the same thing every day. I did get quite the positive experience yesterday. I was taking care of a cancer patient and he had had a very bad night. Some how, what I did for him changed his day into a very positive day. He told me that I personally saved the VA's reputation and that he wants to take me home as his personal nurse because I was able to help him so much. I am not bragging, it is just so nice to hear compliments and gratitude in the craziness that I work in.

In other news, the power poles are almost completely fixed. They put in metal poles, so hopefully this won't happen again.

Also, on Saturday we are making the drive to Payson, Utah to visit my family. I am going to try to teach my mom to blog. I'll let you know how it works out. We are taking Chonkiri with us, so it may be a very interesting drive, he has done this drive twice before, but it has been a while since the last time. Our next trip will hopefully be up to Preston, ID to see Randy's family (sorry Swanns it may be further in the future than desired, but hopefully not too long).

Additionally, I am having to work more Sundays. I worked yesterday and I will be working another Sunday in two weeks. It really makes me appreciate the times that I do get to go to church. I REALLY miss it! Missing church makes it feel like my week never restarted, but that it is just one VERY long week. I did some research on LDS.org to see if there were any suggestions to help me to feel closer to God even when I have to work. I found a couple, including listening to church music and reading scriptures while at work. I did get to listen to a little bit of church music, but I didn't even get a lunch yesterday, let alone read scriptures. The patients I have had lately have been very high acuity and have taken almost every moment of my time from the moment I walked into work until I leave. I am so tired. I think I prefer surgery patients, rather than medical patients. Both require time, but surgery requires less continual care. I ache all over from lifting, turning, cleaning, adjusting, positioning, dressing changing, etc. etc. I am so looking forward to having a few days off of work to recooperate.

Tuesday, July 15

No Power

Sunday night we had a big storm come through. I did a lot of damage on our side of town. 11 down power poles, roofs torn off of homes, fences destroyed. We were lucky that we had no damage from the storm. Our power was out from around 6pm until 3:30am,very icky night. Here are pictures.










Saturday, July 12

The Dog and His Man

Chonkiri loves to play. When we got home this morning from our walk to tadpole pond, the dog brought Randy his bone and then would run away. Thus, Randy decided it was time for a game of keep away/chase.

Frog Flicks

Tadpoles

Jumping

Tadpole Pond


We discovered this living pond almost a week ago and we have been watching the tadpoles grow.



Our 4th Anniversary

Earlier this month we celebrated our 4th year of husband and wifeness. We were able to escape to Mesa for 3 days and stay at a golf resort. We had such a good time, although we definately ate too much. (I had to work really hard at eating healthy and exercising to make up for it when we got home.) Besides being able to be together without any distractions, the best part was that we were able to go to the temple all 3 days we were in Mesa. It was such a blessing to celebrate our marriage and serve our Heavenly Father at the same time. The temple brings me such an immense and fulfilling sense of peace and love. I love being able to go to the House of the Lord. I feel so much more centered and filled with life and happiness. With all the stress from work, I had lost a bit of my excitment for life. When we were at the temple, Randy turned to me and said, "You got the sparkle back in your eyes!" I didn't realize how much I was letting work drag on me. I am so glad that I could visit the temple and feel the sweet spirit that is there! I am also so glad that Randy and I were married there and that we are sealed together for time and for eternity. There is no one I'd rather spend forever with than my dear husband. I love you, Randy!