I've been Tagged

When you are tagged I guess you give 7 interesting facts about yourself. I now tag Angela, Jackie, and Ashley. Here they are:

1. Although I am from Idaho, I hate being cold and I have definitely acclimatized to St. George's weather. The weather in Idaho is too cold for me! I love being warm. I even love the heat in St. George.

2. I have 21 nieces and nephews - 4 (+ one on the way!) on my side and 17 on Jesse's side. I even know all their names. I love big families and I am glad I married into one!

3. These are a few random things I can do / have done: ride a unicycle, juggle, play piano, play guitar, sang in choir, I was on a swim team, I ran track and cross-country, I played softball in high school, I recently took up road-biking, I took a year of violin, I played soccer and T-ball and slow pitch when I was younger.

4. I love to garden and can't wait until I have my own to grow tomatoes and other yummy things!

5. I've only been outside of the country once, and that was to Canada this last summer. I would LOVE to visit Europe and Mexico and Australia one day! I love foreign accents and I collect foreign money. :)

6. I love to learn about the body and how it works and how to be healthier. Science has been my favorite subject since I took Trigonometry in high school. :) There is a lot to learn as a nursing student and I hope I can keep up with it all!

7. I love my family and my in-laws - I am so blessed to have them all in my life. I love my wonderful husband Jesse and I am so grateful for the way he treats me. Sure he is busy, but he always finds time for me. I love being married to him and I am so happy I married my best friend. I love the gospel and I love my Savior. I am so blessed with the knowledge of the Atonement and that I can return to live with Him one day. I am surrounded with wonderful people in my life and I want you all to know that I love you all! Thank you for everything you do for me and the time you put in to be my friend. Happy Holidays!

I love the people; Mom&Dad; Presidential Candidates 2008

Not a whole lot has been going on here... just work and school for me and work for Jesse. I had shingles (dormant chicken pox virus becomes active - a small rash) but it is practically healed and I am no longer contagious. They say you get it from stress... and it is pretty uncommon for someone under the age 50 to get it... well I guess school has been pretty tough lately. I started clinicals a couple weeks ago, and I am enjoying them. While I have been going through school sometimes I wonder why I am subjecting myself to this... but at clinicals I have learned why I want to become a nurse - it is because I love the people. It is very rewarding to help someone in a needy situation. I have had discussions with some people that think poorly of the medical field because the doctors and nurses dehumanize their clients (or patients) - which I know happens. Yet I still want to become a nurse. The patients I have come in contact with so far are not just patients to me - they are people that need my help. I have learned a lot about service and love the past few weeks, and I know that throughout my career as a nurse I have much more to learn.
My mom called on Sunday to tell me they might come down to St. George for the weekend of my birthday! (11/30 - 12/3) This will be their first time since our wedding, so they haven't had a chance to do anything St. George specific. Ideas, anyone?

So Jesse has joined the "RON PAUL REVOLUTION" and I am sticking with good ol'

MITT ROMNEY

at this point. Jesse was with me at the beginning, but he started watching movies on UTube that Ron Paul supporters have made. They are pretty much foo-foo with Ron Paul saying a few words from a t.v. show or interview. Sure, Jesse has a good point about Ron Paul's views on politics. But I just don't think our country is ready for him. What do you think?

Ron Paul

Tour de St. George!

So last Saturday, the 20th of October, I set out to ride 100 miles on my 5-week-old road bike. Dawn & John (Kurt's sister & husband), Kurt, & Ashley were all with me, but left me in the dust pretty soon after the start. A little after an hour into the race (about 13 miles), my chain fell off... soon after I fixed it and was riding again I crashed my bike trying to clip into my pedals. More irritated than anything, I got back on with only a little scrape. A mile later I noticed my back tire was flat. SERIOUSLY!?? I had no clue how to fix a flat, but some older guy helped me put my spare tube on... which popped while he was filling it with air. So the sag car came 30 minutes later and fixed my flat with a free tube. I was finally on the road again 50 minutes after I had stopped for the flat tire. By this time... everyone, I mean everyone had passed me. Including 10-year-olds on mountain bikes and older women traveling less than 5 mph.

This is a picture of me before the race (notice I am smiling without any pain).I had been trying to get the hold of drafting - which reduces the effort you need to make to go the same speed - but by this time anyone my pace was WAY ahead of me.

Here is the map of the ride:

Before this ride, the longest ride I had done was 38 miles. The total distance I had put on my road bike was almost 250 miles. So I wasn't sure I could even finish the race, but I knew I wanted to. Some of the only advice I got for the century was "get in a group." Since that was practically out of the question, I continued the ride and only drafted a total of less than 15 miles during the entire 100 miles. I basically rode the entire race by myself! I'm glad I did it, though. I surprised I am not more sore than I am.
Before I decided to sign up for the full century, I talked to Terrel about whether or not he thought I could do it. He actually suggested doing only the 65 miles. During the hardest part of the race (up Highway 18 to the top of Snow Canyon State Park - miles 70-80) I would think of what Terrel said and was determined to prove him wrong! The race was a lot more mental than I was prepared for, but I did it. I finished in 8 hours, 47 minutes and 19 seconds. They stopped the support at 9 hours, so I barely made it!
Ashley has some pictures on her site as well: click here

In the Nursing Program at DSC

(Before I lost my camera) So I have been in the Nursing Program here at Dixie State College in St. George for almost 2 months now. I've made some good friends and I've worked hard so far. I brought my camera to class (lab) one day and some of my classmates got a hold of the camera and took a few pictures. This is our practice before we practice at our clinicals.

As you can see, the dummies we have to work on are very life-like.

Irresponsible & Determined

So I lost our camera.. the one we got right before going to Sorensen's Camp in July. :( So there may not be very many pictures the next little while.. or long while..

But - I signed up to do the Tour de St. George (100 mile Bike race, aka Century). Jesse decided he wasn't ready for it yet, but it starts this Saturday at 8am and I am pretty excited to do my first century! You can read about it at this site. Jesse has been riding with me and helping me train, so I guess we'll see if I finish or not. My goal: under 8 hours. Wish me luck!

Hiking for the Spa

These are a few pictures I have taken while working for Fitness Ridge as a hiking guide. All (except one) of these pictures are taken back in Green Valley near the gap.

This first one is the sunrise with guides Carie (back, left) and Janet aka my Mother-in-law (back, right) and two guests in front.

I just thought this was a cool picture of the moon.

Here is Annie, Alan's sister, whom I also hike with.

This picture shows the city far off - we are really not very far away from it. It also shows the gap that I was in.

This picture is in Snow Canyon State Park - it is known as "The Staircase." I hike with Cody Pickett sometimes - he is the one in the blue at the top. If you can't tell, he is WAY ahead of us (the guest I was with and myself).I thought this was scenic so I took a picture. You can see Snow Canyon State Park - it is off to the right in the distance.

I love hiking as a job - I get paid to exercise! Plus I can work on my conversation-with-strangers skills...

Bike & Hike

Here we are with our new road bikes... including the nice shorts.

I took Jesse on a 3 1/2 hour hike up Tuacahn split and we had a good time. Beautiful scenery. The last picture you can see St. George and how high we actually climbed.

Trip up to Northern Utah & New Road Bikes!

We went up to Provo to visit my sister, Rachel, and Jonny, and Jesse's sister, Sarah & family this weekend. It was a nice break from the Saint George heat.. On our way home we had to go on a detour because of dust storms. The picture shows the freeway (I-15) that was closed with the dust storms. We also got new road bikes a week ago! I'll post pictures of that after we take them.
Later

Rock Climbing near Idaho Falls

This is Jesse and Tom at the top of the "Hot Potato"... so
named for the black rock that cooks in the sun... and Idaho
has somethingto do with potatoes... Tom, Hannah, Jesse,
and I tried rockclimbing over Memorial Day weekend.
(5-26-07)Jesse belaying Tom

I guess Tom picked a tough spot to climb... here is his first attempt.

and his second..Jesse climbin'

Tom, Jesse, and Hannah trying her turn at climbing

She's not even 3.. is she really climbing?!
My 2nd or 3rd attempt and I made it to the top!Thanks for taking us climbing, Tom!

Niagara Falls & The Trip to Canada

Here we are in New York at Niagara Falls (7-20-07). It was pretty
crowded, so we couldn't really get a picture without all the other tourists...

Here are Kurt & Ashley at the Falls
The entire family in front of their old
church building in Timmins, Ontario Canada.
Baby black bear cub we saw by Carol's CottageWe arrived at Sorensen's Camp (on the border
of Quebec and Ontario) on July 22, 2007.
Here I am floating down the Kipawa River..
We also rode around on Skidoos.
This is me with Oaks and Claire.
Here we are at the overlook of Grand Chute Falls.
and I actually had the guts to jump in (off that rock to the left)!
Jesse finally caught a fish with the
spear gun the last day we were there.
Sabrina and Lilly - so cute!
Jesse and me with Lake Temiskaming behind usAwesome family reunion, thanks Terrel and Janet!

Wildlife around St. George

I work at Fitness Ridge (a fitness/weight loss spa) as a hiking guide and at the front desk, and this week while hiking, I have seen more wildlife than I ever have here in the desert! Tons of bunnies and ugly jack-rabbits, little lizards, yellow-bellied birds... A couple months ago I saw a couple baby turtles on Paradise Rim. A couple weeks ago I saw a rattlesnake all coiled up on the Slots hike. But this week, on my drive home from the front desk at night, there was a huge owl in the middle of Santa Clara Drive by the farmer's market. I also saw a TARANTULA(!!!) and a yellow striped snake (garter, maybe?) on the Saddle hike, and a horned lizard (aka horny toad lizard) on Third Ravine (the gap behind Green Valley). The picture below is the lizard. Desert wildlife is cooler than I thought it was... except maybe the GIANT spider...

Mountain Biking on Gooseberry Mesa Trail

This bike trail was awesome.. I just wish Jesse and I were in better shape... and better skilled for it. We went on Labor Day (9-3-07) with rented bikes (thanks Terrel!). We both struggled but it was really fun and I definitely want to do it again... one day. Ashley has pictures on her site, as well as the ones below. We went with Ashley, Kurt, Jimmy, Berlyn, Dryden, Austin (a friend of the Slemboski's), and McKay. There were a few times I thought I was going to face-plant - I am surprised I didn't fall off and get hurt!

This first picture was while we were waiting for McKay to show up in the morning... Berlyn was helping Claire ride her bike in front of the Slemboski house.

Here is Jesse with a big smile. :)

The next few prove that I wasn't the only one walking with my bike... though I'm pretty sure I walked more than anyone.

Jimmy

Ashley

Berlyn

Here is McKay!

This is me ready to be DONE. We left pretty
late in the morning so it got kind of hot.

This last one is a really pretty view off the plateau
towards the end of the ride. So beautiful!Thanks for showing me the ropes in mountain biking!

Here it is!

So I finally gave in and made a blog. I guess I just like looking at everyone else's and it made me want one of my own! Enjoy!