baby i love your way..

today i had my real first day at Children's Hospital - which scared me.. because i didn't think i liked kids (my babies not included) - but it turns out that i was wrong.. i love kids.. i took care of a 2 month old baby today - and i was smitten.. it was awesome.. one of the best days i've had in nursing school... it is so good to know that there might be something i like to do when i grow up..

interesting

i was listening to NPR the other day.. and i heard that UPS got a new navigation system thingy that plots out the most effective routes.. and also as much as it can - eliminates left hand turns. .. which i thought was crazy.. but apparently left hand turns waste gas.. and are way more dangerous.. like crazy dangerous.. because people tend to run red lights.. and hit people turning left... which i tought was nice to know.. after the fact..
this is the lesson.. when coming up to a red left turn light.. try to a) get behind another car or b) hesitate for a while before turning..

I'm so ready to be home

I've been crazy busy so i haven't posted in a while.

I've been traveling since January 3rd and i'm so ready to be home.

First it was 12 days of Last Vegas for CES

and 12 days of Vegas is way too much for any one human to endure... They made me party way too much.

then it was straight to Utah for Sudance Film Festival where it was even colder than vegas and very exhausting.

I've been here for 14 days now and i'm so done. I leave tomorrow, which is awesome, but i'm ready to leave now.

but i did get to meet up with some friends from last year and meet some new friends from this year.

Thats me and Paul and Nate, two guys who both biked over 10,000 miles for two separate documentaries and our new adventure filmmaker JB who we met at the Northface house. Yes thats a house made out of Ice with North Face and Lexus and a few other brands handing out schwag.

I got to meetup with my Northface friends from last year and they introduced us to a bunch of cool people including JB who we hung out with the rest of the festival. We also did get to go skiing a couple of days. Deer valley was amazing, but i was stupid and didn't have my camera with me. We also went to Snowbird which wasn't as nice, but i'd never been before so it was still fun.

Here is me in my new jacket from Christmas. Its orange and beautiful.

I'll post more pictures when i get them from people who actually had their cameras on them.

I'm ready to be home now with Chara and the puppies and my bed and warm southern california weather, and fish tacos.

Ben...

it's cold outside..

ben and i made it to utah and we had a blast.. ben is in park city for sundance.. but i got to tag along..

we took a day off to ski/snow board.. it started snowing half way though - it was awesome.. it was like snowboarding in warp speed..
 

ben and i all bundled up.. it was dang cold..
 

ahh.. sundance.. super cool movies.. that no one gets to see..
 

all in all it was a good time.. however.. i am so glad to be home.. i came home.. all by myself (on an airplane no less) - thanks to trevor and loan who picked me up from the airport.. and thanks to heath and rhiannon who had an amazing dinner (ribeyes, and veggies) made when i got home and don and lou who made home made éclairs for me.. really.. i have great family/friends/neighbors.. i love you all.. you guys are what i miss when i'm away from home (and of course the puppies. i miss them too..).. 

vegas baby...

trevor, loan, and i headed off to meet ben in vegas.. for a weekend of work/fun.. and now ben and i are in utah.. freezing... it's 9 degrees out here.. sundance/slamdance start tomorrow.. so we've just been working on getting set up out here... i will be coming home to the puppies and the wilhoits on sunday...

here i am playing my new favorite game 'wheel of fortune' - honestly this game rocks, thank you to loan who taught me how to play (notice how i'm rocking the pink hair - my sister and i had a hair accident.. it will have to be fixed when i get home)
 

here is loan.. with her winning voucher.. she won big on wheel of fortune.. lucky her...
 

trevor and loan.. oh so happy.. and oh so cold.. if you look closely the fountain is half frozen.. who knew it could snow in vegas?
  

didnt' see that coming..

taken from the fabulous book 'Stiff: The Curious Life of Cadavers' by the genius Mary Roach -
when a car is in an accident:
'steering columns are now meant to collapse on impact absorbing enough of the shock to prevent serious injury - Hoods are now designed to do this too... the idea being that the more the car crumples the less you do'
and thank God it did..

 
 

driving home from my sisters on thursday night, i was making a left turn on a green arrow, when another guy decided to run through a red light, hitting me... both my airbags deployed.. and i was pretty freaked out.. but fine.. i'm fine.. i have one bruise on my knee, and my back was achy for a while.. but other than that i am fine.. the car took all the force of the impact..

it was pretty scary.. but oceanside PD and Fire department where there within minutes.. and they were wonderful.. just great.. and kind.. i could not have asked for nicer people.. 

oh happy day..

eight years ago today ben and i both said 'i do'.. and i still do..
you make me very happy..
happy anniversary ben..


  

deborah comes for a visit..

deobrah the puppy and lou..

 

deborah just loves coming down for a visit.. she especially loves going next door to 'don and lou's' house.. here she is with 'grandma lou'.. sometimes i think she likes them more than she likes me.. 

I Heart Union Labor

if these guys measure the 20 x 18 structure that i told them was 20 x 18 one more time i'm going to beat them over the head with a pipe

In Vegas

I have arrived in Vegas... and i'm ready to leave

but not so... i will be here for the next 12 days. That is like 7 years in Vegas time.

i walked into the hotel where i'm staying and was instantly "over it" and ready to go home. and the Pirates of the Caribean nonsense that is going on outside my room isn't helping.

hopefully after the show i'll have some time to relax and enjoy the stay

Ben..

momma jane comes for a visit...

and we've been running around like crazy...

the kids and kai.. we took them to see a movie
 

ben and chara on coronado
 

the fam on coronado....
  

disclaimer..

i do not in anyway indorse ben's post about coke.. and how it's bad for you.. in fact i don't think it's right.. so.. read it.. but know that it gets two thumbs down from chara..

What happens to your body if you drink a Coke right now?

Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? It’s because it gets you high. They took the cocaine out almost a hundred years ago. You know why? It was redundant.

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get it’s hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dialate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

found via Core77

naked monday..

one of my patients today (who was OCD - which was it's own kind of fun) - decided he was going to be naked for like four hours today..
i would walk into this guys room.. and there he would be - sitting up in his chair.. totally normal - but buck naked.. i begged him to put clothes on.. and he informed me that he was on a tight schedule and could not be bothered to put his clothes on till after lunch.. good times..

schools out for christmas..

yesterday we finished up finals.. and then we had some wonderful bonding experiences....i love these girlies.. they got me through this semester.. and i thank god (and the baby jesus) for them....

nerissa and lizard
 
so happy to be done..
 
nerissa power and jack attack - the team mom
 
lizard busting us out of melobeast house.. the girl had to climb a fence..
  

the girls heading off for a walk..
 
pam shows mikey some love
 
keith and nerissa
 
after a long day of work we finally get the girls on their way to vegas..
  

could they be cuter?

here are my babies..


today.. i am done... finals are done.. this semester is done.. and i am happy..
i'll post pictures from the great time we had today.. but i figured that i should let my new babies take priority.. aren't they gorgeous?

also.. high five to ashlee who got both those babies out.. wow did she do good..

christmas come early..

congratulations to me... i am now the proud auntie of twins..
ashlee delivered two beautiful babies...
Sophia Grace was delivered at 6:09pm, weighing in at 5 lbs and 7 oz
and
Josiah David was delivered shortly after at 6:12pm, weighing 6 lbs 7 oz..

both babies and momma are doing well....

i will post pictures just as soon as i get some..

it's all happening..

this morning around 4am they took ashlee off all her meds.. the contractions started to get really rough around 11am... one of the biggest issues is that the boy baby has turned, and so we're not sure if the doctors will let ashlee deliver the girl, and then attempt to deliver the boy breach... or if they'll make her go in for a c-section..
also.. those babies will only be 35 weeks.. so we're not sure how their little lungs will do either.. so happy thoughts and prayers towards our friends ashlee, brian, and the babies.. stay tuned for more baby updates..

so close..

three finals down.. one to go.. as of thursday i am a free woman.. i can't wait..