Thursday, October 7, 2010

Update

Wow, it's been a long time!!!

What can I say, life is going by so fast... It is hard to keep up. New things that are going on:

My older sister had another baby boy this last January. He is so ADORABLE!!!
~My oldest nephew is now in 1st grade. I can't believe how old he's getting!!!
He goes to school. At the end of last school year he was in a play. He loves
school and is so smart!
~My second nephew is now 2 years old and is becoming so much more verbal and
sociable. He wants to be just like his older brother and is socially and
emotionally growing so much and so fast! It is amazing the changes 2-year-olds
go through!!!


My best friend is getting MARRIED next MAY!!!
~She has asked me to be her Maid of Honor! I am so HONORED to be her "best
woman." She is my bestest friend and I am so happy to be at her side on one of
the most important days of her life!!!
~We will be starting her "save the date" cards here shortly and I am starting to
plan her bachelorette party and the speech I will be giving at the reception or
whenever it is that I am supposed to give it. She means so much to me and I have
so many things to say... Now I just have to get them all organized and written
down.


My brother just turned 18!!!!
~I never thought this day would come. He has had a rough past few years and has
done so well recently. We've had our ups and downs. I am constantly worried
about him and where he is headed. He's the baby of the family and it is hard
to see him struggling to make it on his own; but when he Triumphs and
accomplishes something, it is so WONDERFUL to see it!


On a sad note, my grandpa (dad's dad) died earlier this year.
~Just a few days before he died, he was diagnosed with cancer. They found a
growth behind his eye that was cancerous. He has also been suffering from some
major memory loss for a while before that and had to be put in a nursing home.
~The friday before he died, he went into a type of unresponsive state. I am
not positively sure if they ever called it a true coma, but it was similar to
that. He was breathing on his own, and would respond to some things by making
a certain facial expression or raising his eye brows, but couldn't "wake up."
~He died on a Monday. It was hard to see him go, but it was good to know he
wasn't suffering anymore.


Well, that is what has been going on since my last post. Right now, things have been going pretty well. I am in my Senior year at WSU, I still have a job, and I am doing pretty well. Hopefully it won't be as long before I post again!!!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

It's been a while... Oops

I know, I know... I am a slacker. It's been a while since I've posted and lots of things have happened; so let's get to them.

I spent all of April reading 2 books simultaniously for one class; The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Now, I'm not really good at comprending anything I read, let alone 2 books simultaniously. Writing the papers, I had to continuously go back and check the book to make sure I was right. Turns out that I had both the stories really mixed together. I ended up doing okay on my final papers, but man was I messed up. The story I had in my head was still pretty good though. :)

My last day of school was April 30th. I am offically done with school! I will be starting back at WSU on August 24th for Fall Semester '09; until then, I am free from homework!!! YAY!! :)

My BFF have decided to go to lunch once a month and catch up on things. I think it is a perfect idea. We never hang out much and getting together for lunch lets us catch up on things. The most recent time we were able to get togther was May 1st. I was able to finally give her the scarf I made her for her birthday. It is knitted with neon green, neon blue, neon purple, neon pink, and finally neon orange. It is just about 5' long and about 8" wide. It isn't the best, but it was the first scarf I have ever tried. It took me quite a while to complete (It was a very belated gift... It was a month and a half late)... Sorry Kale!!! I had it ready for our April get together and would have been only about 1-2 week late; however, when I was finishing it, I dropped it in a muddy puddle and had to wash it 3 times to get all the mud out of it... Oops! But I did finally get it to her!!!

Last week started out slow, but ended up being really full and really stressfull. On Wednesday, my Nana went in for a scheduled outpatient surgery. She was in for 5 hours and they were unsuccessful at clearing the blockage from her leg. While she was in recovery, they gave her a medicine that she was allergic to and she became really miserable and sick. At 9:30pm they told her that she could go home. They were trying to push her out of the recovery room while she was still throwing up and couldn't move without being sick. I was furious with them. They didn't even help her get ready. They came in and said, you can go home now and left the room. My Granddaddy had to help her with anything. He helped her stand up and noticed that her leg and foot were completely black and immediately called the nurse. She tried to get ahold of the doctor, who said that he would not come in to see her, that he was out for the night. The nurse then asked the house doctor to come and check her and he said that he couldn't because she wasn't truly admitted to the hospital. So, she was in a hospital, but couldn't be helped by anyone. Finally, the surgeon came in and looked at her.

She ended up being transported to another hospital at 1am, thursday morning, for an emergency bypass surgery. They were done at 4:30am and it was sucessful. She was placed in the ICU afterward to recover. The next morning we found out that she was experiencing renal failure and was given a 50-50 chance of them being able to revive the kidneys. They have been getting a little better every day. Normal Creatinin levels are 1.3 or below. Her first test showed her at a 2.8 and yesterday, they were all the way down to a 1.98. So they are moving more and more toward normal every day. It will just take a while to get there.

Her foot has yet to look normal again, but it is getting oxygen and nutrition for the first time in a while, so we are still hoping that it will get better. They are watching it close. If it becomes a source of infection, it could rapidly spread through the bloodstream and go straight to her heart; killing her. The doctors have permission to take it at any point needed. She may loose her foot, but it may save her life if they need to do it.

Friday of last week, my dad and I went to yet another hospital in the same city for scheduled tests. At 9:30am he was supposed to have a ultrasound of his gallbladder and at 11:30am he was supposed to have a Echo-Cardiogram of his heart. We arrived at his first test and I could tell he was in a lot of disstress. The nurse came and got us from the waiting area and took us back. Dad had a hard time just getting back to the room. She could tell he was in trouble and commented to us that she was going to hurry and get done. She then told us that we needed to get him up to the 3rd floor to be tested. We told her that was our next stop; that he had an appointment at 11:30a up there. She had us go straight up there and check in early. As we went upstairs, she was calling them, letting them know to watch for us. We checked in upstairs and they came and got us very quickly. We went back and the Rad-tech also commented on his disstress and said that she would run the echo-cardiogram quickly. Then she asked if we would wait while she found a doctor to look at them. I knew at that point, things weren't looking good. One of the Cardiologist came into the room and started talking with us. He encouraged that my dad stay in the hospital and that they would pull water off him and do an angiogram to see what was going on with his heart. By the Echo he was able to see that my dad's heart muscle was very weak and that he was experiencing a extremely unstable heart beat and said that it could be because my dad had a ton of excess fluid around the heart and in the chest. My dad was admitted at 11:38am and was placed in a room on the cardiac floor. They weighed him and recorded it. For the first 20 hours, they pushed Lasix through an IV every hour. That night my dad lost 21 pounds of total water!!! I was amazed. Saturday morning, the doctor came in and talked with us a little more. He said that they were going to do the angiogram and if they found a total blockage in the Coronary arteries, they would go straight into bypass surgery. The angiogram was completed Saturday morning and they found no narrowings or blockages. I was releived. We spent all day and night at the hospital. Dad had to lay flat for 6 hours after surgery. He was in so much pain by 5:45 pm! Once he was able to sit up, he did better. Sunday morning the Doctor came back in and said that he had found a clot inside the heart. They wouldn't be able to remove it because of it's location. Apparently the clot was formed by his irregular heart beat (A-fib). He was discharged Sunday afternoon. He is still in A-fib, but they won't be able to fix that until the clot is gone. If the heart cardio-verts to a normal rhythm, the clot may come loose and kill him. So, for now, he is on bed rest and we have 2 appointments scheduled for friday to check on his heart.

Needless to say, it has been a long few days. I spent, from Wednesday at 6am to Sunday at 3pm, bouncing back and forth among 3 hospitals. I spent Wednesday at one hospital, slept Wednesday and Thursday night at another hospital, and friday and Saturday night at yet another hospital. I slept really good Sunday night; I was able to sleep in my own bed at my own house.

This week I have been visiting my Nana at least once per day. She seems to do better when people visit her. She'll try talking, but gets tired really easily and then will just listen. She does continue respond to some questions by moving her head a little bit; so I know she hears me.

One of my family members asked me why I talk to her when she doesn't talk back, that she is out of it or is asleep. She really isn't... and I can tell that she likes it when people talk to her. The corners of her mouth turn upward (like she's trying to smile) and she squeezes your hand a bit when you hold it. She is there... She may not always talk back, but she's there and listening.

So, that's been my life for the past little bit. Again, I know I've been a slacker and will try to write more often. :) TTYL...

Thursday, March 12, 2009

New 4 wheeler AND SPRING BREAK!!!!

Last Friday, I went to Triple S Polaris and I traded in my 2006 Sportsman 700 for a new 2008 Sportsman 800 Twin Touring Edition ATV!!! I love this 4 wheeler. It it about a foot longer and has a second seat on it. I also added a few things to it:

14 inch wheels and tires
Front and rear racks
Gun holder mount (left mount)
Semi hard case for the back
Fender bag
Handle bar warmers
Throttle Warmer
Full Front Brush Guard
Wench
Blue Head Lights
Rear Working Lights

It is totally tricked out! On Sunday my Dad, RJ, and I went 4 wheeling and I was able to see just how well my ATV could ride. I took out my second seat and placed Scooby (my German Shepherd) on the back. We road the trail a couple of times and then I took him up a big hill and down the other side. I'm not sure if he totally loved it; however, he tolerated it pretty well. I let my brother take a turn driving it and a turn riding in my second seat. He approves of it :)!

Later Sunday, my Dad and I took Cuyler (my oldest nephew) his birthday present. He turned 5 years old on March 3rd (I cannot believe he is that old! That means that I am just that much old-er!!!). My Dad and I bought him a whole bunch of baseball stuff. It wasn't expensive, but it is something to start out with. It all came inside a clear plastic bag that has a handle on it, so Cuyler can carry it like a one-strap backpack if he wanted to. Inside, there is a baseball tee that hooks to the home plate that is in there, there are 2 bats, 5 balls, and 1 glove. There is also a small 6 inch-ish devise that you place on the ground, put a ball on top of it, and press down until it clicks. The ball slowly starts rising and then the device pops it up into the air, so the batter can hit it.

I thought he would enjoy starting with the tee and working into the second device; however, Cuyler hits pretty well with the second device. He hit every ball! A couple of them went really far too. It's a good thing my sister has a big evergreen in her backyard that stops them, otherwise we might have lost a couple of balls. Cuyler loves baseball! And I believe he is going to be really good at it!

On another note...
This week was Spring Break for WSU. It was very refreshing to not have to go to classes or submit homework! Even though I did not go anywhere are do anything extraordinary, I have had a really good time. I needed some relaxation and time to catch up on other aspects of my life and Spring Break gave me that chance!

Starting again next week, School will start again... The good news is that I will only have 6 weeks left until Summer Break!!! :)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Half Way There and a new life!!!

Spring Semester is almost half way done!... I cannot believe that I have been juggling 24 credit hours for half a semester, and been good at it. I thought it would have been harder than this; however, the online classes seem to be going well so far.

My brother just transferred schools. He is no longer at Davinci; but is now a Lancer for Layton High School. I hope everything goes well. He really seems into the switch and has already made new friends. I can honestly say, "RJ is trying." He just wants to break all old ties and try again. It's going to be a new start and, hopefully, a good one!

As Mom and RJ came out of Layton High, RJ striked up a conversation. "Look at those kids!"

Mom, "what about them."

It broke my heart when RJ's response was "they are just normal kids. They aren't goths, brainiacs, or gang related. They are just normal... I want to be normal again!"

It was amazing how in depth RJ was already reading the school and the people surrounding him. He was so intrigued that teens could exist without being in a gang or looking as if they worshiped the devil all day, every day. For the first time in quite a while, RJ's face was lighting up with total bliss about something and I could look at him and see my little brother's soul shining from within!

It's amazing how sensory oriented teens are to different things. Also, it's very interesting how little details, like kids sitting on a lawn of a high school, stimulate the mind to create a truly genuine response.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Life...

Someone once said that "life is like drawing without an eraser" and they were completely right. In life, there is no going back and taking out all of the mistakes, the bad times, or the things you just don't want to remember anymore. Your past is what makes you unique; it is what makes you who you truely are.

Lately I wish there was some sort of "eraser" that would permanently make things disappear. If there were, I would be making some serious corrections in my life; one being my family. I really wish that I could just erase everything from the beginning from December 2007 to today; however, I know that is not plausible so I have a few other ideas.

First, I would go back and erase whatever it was that happened on July 1st 2008, while I was working. Something major, some kind of conflict, occured between my parents and my brother. When I got off of work that night, I arrived at home to find out that my mother had taken my brother and left. They had taken their things and just moved out! It was a very devistating thing in my life that threw me into a depression stage for a few months.

Second, I would rewind another month and a half to May 16th, when Ryan told me that he did not want to see me anymore; that after 2+ years, he was dumping me so that he could see another girl down in Draper. That cut deep, really deep!!! I had given him my heart; the year before he dropped it, but he picked it back up, cleaned it off, and held it close. On May 16th, he had dropped it again, and he did not even bother to pick it up. He just stomped on it and left it to bleed.

The Third thing I would correct is the day my brother was expelled from SJCES. I would take the day out completely. My parents were mad at me earlier that day for some sort of minor thing (I can't even remember what it was), they were arguing with each other over some other minor thing, and then to top it all of RJ was kicked out of school. It was a bad day for my family and I believe it was what led RJ to a much deeper use of drugs and also led him to the gang crap he was (and may still be) involved in.

I wish I could erase these 3 major things in my recent life; but, I know I cannot, and that is ok. As I said before, my past is what makes me who I am today. I am unique and I am me; either deal with it or don't. I don't really care!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Then there were 4...

I went to cadaver class this week; and sad to say, we lost Matt. He didn't show up and so now we are down to just 3 students in my class. :(

My class is so small that they are considering shutting it down. They currently are trying to get people to transfer from other labs to mine; allowing large sized labs to downsize. I hope it works! I really can't attend any other lab offered.

I hope everything works out ok! :)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The long weekend

This past weekend was great!

I had classes on Friday from 9am to 5 pm, but was able to hang out with Chance between my first and second class. After my classes were over, I went home and cleaned up for a girls' night out with Jess. I only stayed out until like 10:30, but it was fun!

On Saturday I went to work at 7am, was finished at 1pm, and spent a lot of the afternoon at my Nana's house; spending time with my grandparents and mom.

Sunday, the day of rest, was spent cleaning non stop around my house. By late afternoon I had the whole upstairs spotless and was working on my room. Around 4pm my dad came down and asked what I wanted for dinner. I came up with a great idea; I wanted to make a homemade pizza! So, we went to the store and bought all of the ingredients. We went home and made the masterpiece of a pizza. It was huge! We were only able to eat about 1/3 of it!

I spent all of Monday with my Mom. We started out the morning by going and getting pedis from a great little nail place at 36th and Washington BLVD. After, we went to the mall to get my dad's glasses repaired. We stopped by Merl Norman's why we were there to try and get some makeup; but they were REALLY busy, so we left.

I went back home and packed up my car with Scooby and the things I would need to keep him busy at my Nana's house; then Scooby and I were off to Nana's. Why I was there, RJ and I took Scooby for a walk to the duck pond. He was just thrilled. He had never seen ducks before and was very curious as to what they were. We put a muzzle on him; just in case he got close to one of them. He chased them for quite a while, trying to sniff them; however, he never got close enough to them. When we got back, Scooby helped my granddaddy put the christmas statues (from the front yard) away. He walked back and forth with my Granddaddy; he kept trying to carry the cord like a leash, in his mouth. Most of his day was spent in the vast and gigantic backyard, running the north fence line with our neighbor dog, Max the Akita. Max and Scooby look a lot alike; seeings how both of them are 1/2 german shepherd; but Max has the coloring and the tail of an Akita and scooby's body is built and has fur like a Collie. Their statures are the same and their heads are identicle. They had so much fun together!

The big debate, that I hear everywhere I go today, seems to be about our new President. I don't know why EVERYONE is judging him by the color of his skin.

Whatever happened to, "a person should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character?"?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Cadaver Class...

I went to my first cadaver class for this semester. It was fun!

There are 2 student teachers, Justin and Jaren; and then I have three classmates, Devin, Dan, and Matt. It sounds like it is going to be a great class and, yes, I am the only female in the class!

I cannot waite to see the all guys next week!!! :)

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Hump Day...

Well, Wednesday is almost over. Now I'm on the down hill slide to the weekend!!! I can't waite. I know I've only been back at school for 3 days; but these longer days are killing me!!! I cannot wait until friday at 5 because that's when my last class ends for the week!!!

Today I looked up that new dinosaur thing that is comming to the Energy Solutions Arena next week. It's that "walking with Dinosaurs" exhibit. I want to go see it soooo bad; however, the tickets for the lower bowl seating is like $75 per person plus a $7.99 "convenience fee" per person. Come on!!! I know it took a $20 million budget, but that is a ridiculous price for tickets. Some Utah families have close to 100 kids these days. Families like that would have no way to afford to take their family to this show!!! I don't agree with the prices. It is supposed to be an educational family event! I think they are wrong to ask for that amount of money!

I am not looking forward to starting again next week!!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Back to real life...

Christmas vacation was very exciting. The 11 days went by really fast; but, I had a lot of fun.

My Christmas day started at midnight between the 24th and 25th. I went to work with my dad at Free port Center to help keep him awake. While I was there, I finished my mom's Christmas present. It turned out really cute. Around 8am, I left Free port and went to my Nana's house. I spent most of the day there, celebrating Christmas with my Nana, Granddaddy, Mom, and my brother. Later in the evening, my brother came home to my Dad's house with me to celebrate with my dad.




When we got home, my dad was on the phone with my Grandma Bright. Apparently she was without power and heat for 14 hours that day. As soon as he hung up the phone, we were headed over to dig out their generator and warm up the house. It was about 8:30 before we could begin to feel heat. I felt so bad for their neighborhood. Most of the people who live around my grandparents are elderly and have no family. That means around 75 of the ruffly 100 people in that neighborhood were elderly, with no family, and had no power or heat for 14 HOURS on CHRISTMAS!!!! What a bummer!!! My brother stayed the night at my dad's house for Christmas. It went really well and I think my dad and brother both had a really great time.

Right after Christmas I became really sick. One day, I slept for 16 hours straight! I ended up at the doctors on Dec. 31. I was poked with so many times because they kept not getting enough blood or kept missing my veins. I was miserable. Later that night, my best friend MyKale and her bf Brandon came to visit me and my dad!- YAY!!! Brandon and my dad talked for quite a while about car stuff while Kale and I chatted about other things. They didn't stay until midnight; but it was the highlight of my night.

Now I'm back at work and school. It is weird to have such a tight schedule. I went from having almost 2 weeks with nothing to do; to having no time at all to get anything done. I already have 6 papers to write by Friday and I have no clue what my main topic or thesis is going to be on any of them.


I guess that is how life goes though. People have to rush to get everything done, just so they can make a decent living in this world.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

The night before christmas

'Tis the night before christmas and all through the house... JENNI WAS RUNNING 'ROUND AND 'ROUND GETTING PRESENTS FINISHED!!!

I swear that's going to be me this year. I finished my brother's present; however, my parents' and Kale's gifts are still waiting to be finished! There is just not enough time in the day anymore.

Merry Christmas to all; and to all, a good night!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

One week 'til christmas

I've been working all day on my parents' gifts. I can't waite until I am finished. Today I have spent about about 8 hours on them and I probably have about 3-4 hours to go before I will be finished. Man, I wish this would go faster!

I can't wait until christmas is over!!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Yearly Tribute to the DMV

Don’t you just love it when the time comes to get your emissions and inspection done on your car? Every year millions of cars MUST go through this process; it is REQUIRED in order to be able to legally run your car for the following year.
Today, I helped my father change the oil, rotate the tires, run a fuel injector through, check all the lights, and top off all fluids in my grandma’s 1993 Chevrolet Pickup. I cannot believe that we did all of that, just to get the truck to pass emissions and inspection! At least in the end it was worth it, the truck passed and my grandma will be able to drive it at least one more year.


Next month I will be doing the same thing to my 1995 Toyota Corolla and my 2006 Polaris 700 Twin Sportsman ATV. Fun fun fun!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas time

Christmas is coming fast and I am rushing to finish my presents. A lot of my gifts this year are homemade. I am making quilts, cross stitch projects, paintings, picture collages, and stuffed animals; all by hand. I need to complete at least a few of them so I can feel somewhat acomplished.

Next year, I swear it is all going to be giftcards!... LOL!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Fall Semester 2008

Well, Fall semester at WSU is finally over. The weeks went by slowly; however, I did it! Now comes the fun part, WINTER BREAK!!!


Hmmm, what should I do over break? :-?