October

I can't believe October is already coming to an end!  The months are flying by!  Here are some of October's happenings...

My favorite sister and I celebrated our birthdays with a smashing party at the park!

And a dinner for Lindsay at Carrabbas

This is the wreath I made for Linz for her birthday...

Candy jar on a candlestick craft...so easy and fun to fill with candy for each holiday or season.

Pumpkin carving is one of those things that I have to do every year.  What's halloween without a good pumpkin carving?!  

Kellie & Jason's Phantom Pumpkin

Now if only Jason could be normal...

Tys & I did a Dracula Pumpkin...so cool.

This week I met my mom for a fun girl's night out!  I really do have the best mom.  We had dinner here..

and went to see Ballet West Perform this...

Earlier that day my mom was on TV!  Humor me while I brag about my mom here, she really is so cool.  I am amazed by how much she does in the community- University Hospital Foundation Board, United Way, Junior League, Women's Philanthropic Network, really the list goes on and on- in addition to working full time, serving in the Relief Society Presidency, and being an incredible mom. Go here to see the TV segment of her interview on KSL's Studio 5.

Happy Halloween!

Two people I love...

Two people I really love...Stephanie Nielson and Glenn Beck, both are really incredible people in my book.  Watch this...

or this...

Last April for our Professionalism Conference, BYU brought Stephanie Nielson to be our keynote speaker...it was a dream come true.  This is what she said about nurses...

I have been aware of Stephanie Nielson’s inspiring story for a couple years and have enjoyed following her blog, so to be in her presence and hear her story firsthand was truly touching. I was impressed by the way she eloquently tied her story back to nursing and what we can do as nurses to ease the suffering of those patients who are most vulnerable. One of the major characteristics of nurses that Stephanie pointed out as being most beneficial to her while she was experiencing a dark time in her life was that of honesty, even when the truth wasn’t pretty, followed up with an outpouring of love.  She talked about the importance of having nurses who showed her compassion and support, while continually encouraging her to move forward, even when it was most difficult. I was especially impressed by what Stephanie Nielson had to say about the hospital being a holy place.  She reminded us that the hospital is not just the place you work, people die there and people are born there.  Families come there to find comfort and experience disappointments. This thought has crossed my mind before, but I will forever view the hospital in a different light.  I will remember the sacred opportunities and happenings of the hospital and act accordingly as I have the privilege of being there often. Stephanie Nielson is an incredible example of optimism and perseverance despite facing immense trials. Her story is inspiring and I feel that I have been changed by her light, her experience, and her insight. 

I may not work in a hospital, but I am still a nurse...and honored to be one :)

Hypnobirthing

"We believe that every woman has within her the power to call upon her natural instincts to bring about the best possible birthing for her baby and herself"

-Marie F. Mongan

Let me start off by saying this post is entirely my opinion.  I am no expert on the subject of childbirth, if fact, I have no such experience, but nursing school and a bit of research has taught me a couple things...just a couple.

While in Labor & Delivery, I had the opportunity to attend a Hypnobirthing class and instantly became fascinated, intrigued, enthralled, in love...yes, all of those.  Hypnobirthing is not as odd as it sounds.  It doesn't include a hypnotist dangling a pocket watch in front of your face while you give birth or anything of that matter in fact.  The "hypo-" comes from the involvement of "self-hypnosis"-essentially practiced relaxation techniques.  It is a birthing method built on the theory that women are designed to give birth and have the capability of doing so naturally when they are properly prepared and educated.

Women have been giving birth naturally for thousands of years and in some parts of the world, there is still no other option, but in our society less than 40% of women give birth without an epidural.  Which is OKAY.  I am all for medical advances, technology.  Yes, I want to give birth in a hospital, and I totally get having an epidural-why suffer unnecessarily, right?  And while I would like to commit myself to never having an epidural, just due to my own personal opinions about better outcomes for mother and baby recovery, I have never had a baby and can't exactly predict what it will be like.  I am, however, very passionate about Hypnobirthing (in case you hadn't noticed), and hope, really hope, that it is something I will be blessed to experience.

Not only do a believe natural childbirth leads to better outcomes for mom and baby, I believe that childbirth is intended to be a very spiritual, sacred experience.  I feel I will be more spiritually in tune if my body is in a natural state, unmedicated, without an epidural.  Hypnobirthing classes teach a lot about the connection between our mental state and our physical state, their inseparable connection, and how we can use power of mind to impact our perception of pain.  Our society portrays women in labor horror stricken, panicked, and in the worst pain ever known to mankind.  Do you think this is the way God intended His children to be brought into mortality?  I don't.  I don't think labor needs to be this way, in fact, of the several labors I have observed and participated in, it has never been this way, medicated or unmedicated.  A woman's view of labor going into the experience has a huge impact on her experience.  The tension that so often builds up in the nine months preceding labor, due to stories heard or labors seen on movies or TV, most definitely creates pain.  On the contrary if a woman goes into labor knowing what to expect, prepared with relaxation techniques, support, and a plan, she will have the power to minimize pain and increase tolerance.  I won't go into the physiology of this principle, but it makes complete sense.  Yes, childbirth is hard, I don't think it was meant to be easy or painless, but I do believe it can be calm, spiritual, natural and with minimal and bearable pain.

So...let me explain what brought this rant about.  A girl I work with went to Hypnobirthing classes at IMC and just gave birth a couple of weeks ago.  She ended up going into labor about 4 weeks early and her labor lasted around 16 hours.  Not having talked to her, I assumed there was no way she could have gone through that without an epidural.  16 hours?  four weeks early? first labor?  totally justifiable to get an epidural.  (not that it needs to be justified...at all).  Anyways, I saw her today and as we talked about her labor she mentioned how easy her recovery was, attributing that to yes...going natural.  I cried.  Ha.  She was in labor for 16 hours, had to be given Pitocin, and still didn't get an epidural, and from what I heard, had an incredible experience. I was somewhat shocked and so proud of her, so yes... I cried.  The girls I work with probably think I am nuts, and maybe everyone will after this post...

but that is my two cents about childbirth.

This article also got me going...TOTALLY disagree with several points.  Women weren't "designed" for giving birth?!  Give me a break!  But interesting nonetheless.

Here Goes Nothing...

Time for confession...I have had this blog since Tyson and I got married which was yes...over a year ago, yet this is my first post.  My excuse was always that I was too busy with school to keep a blog, but now that my school days are over I figure I ought to start.  My posts may be few and far between as I still feel I lack exciting things to write about, but if nothing else it will contain a record of our trips, fun outings, and our latest projects and crafts.

We'll start with our most recent trip...Jackson Hole last weekend.  Thanks to our wonderful friends Clint, Mindy, and their sweet baby girl Elsie, we enjoyed a fabulous trip in the gorgeous Teton Village.  

We saw a moose as soon as we drove into the park..sooo cool!

Riding the boat across Jenny's Lake to our hike

Hidden Falls

Clint, Mindy, and happiest baby-Elsie

At Bar J Wranglers Chuckwagon

What a creep

We love Jackson Hole!

Well as you can see it was a fabulous trip!  The weather was perfect and it was so nice to get away!

Onto my latest hobby...crafting, of all sorts.  I have fallen in love with Pinterest, which I would recommend to anyone, and DIY blogs.  I am amazed by the ideas that people come up with!  It makes it easy for non-creative people, like myself, to find fulfillment in creating something decent!  I love it!  Here are some of my most recent creations.

My biggest project thus far has been this rug.  My sister-in-law "talked me into" buying her fabulous and MOST comfortable couch, so naturally I needed to redecorate my house.  It begins with a new rug for my living room.

It began with this...a $40 flat woven rug from IKEA

Loving the Chevron stripe trend, I taped off the pattern with masking tape, made a trip to Home Depot (where I always feel clueless) for paint, and then enlisted the help of my wonderful husband.  (I would recommend using a small paint roller...the project went much faster when we decided to use one)

 After a few days of painting and drying...

 we pulled off the tape, painted the white of the rug cream, and...ta-da!!

A new rug and a fabulous new couch :)

Oh how I love fall...  I strongly dislike the season that follows, but for now I will enjoy and look forward to pretty leaves, crisp mornings, that fabulous autumn smell, Halloween festivities, and perhaps most of all...fall and halloween decorations.  Here is a VERY simple project that turned out as a perfect decoration for my table...

My inspiration...(from Pinterest, of course)

 And my final project...so easy!

In April, I discovered these embroidery patterns from The Village Quilt Shop at Gardener Village and have been hooked ever since.  Each month I look forward to completing this project for the next month...it is just something fun and easy for me to work on at night when we are watching...sports, ha.  I particularly love the pattern for October, naturally.