wedding. love. marriage.

more pictures from this past weekends wedding, I don't think I ever mentioned how I know Jessica but she is in my nursing class with me and the funny thing is that I met her once before we started in the program at my friend brittany Whimpy's birthday party when she gave us a suggestion of someone she knew in Arizona. In a round about way she was the hook up that gave us the greatest spring break trip ever!! I love Jess so much, and we've gotten really close ever since we've been in the program together. She looked beautiful on her big day and everything went so perfectly!
(PS. much to my dismay you will be seeing my lovely grill in these photos...I try not to show off the brace face but this will be an exception.)

First off.... a flashback picture from her bridal shower in Salt Lake over Christmas Break : )

heading up to the temple...paparazzi shot from Austin
Waiting for the lovely couple to come outside....ps. We're all nurses in this picture : )

it's official!!!

waiting for our turn to get in the shots with the bride and groom. freezing to death by the way!!

Mama Cyndi and her daughters : ) sluffing class for the big day!

Pow-wow advice time!

now to the reception we go!

The couple to wed, we'll be there for you June 4th!!

Reception crew cramming onto one table, notice the awesome centerpieces?
Even though we drove all over central and southern utah this day it was such a great day! and it was so nice to meet up and catch up with old friends who have long since moved from Cedar!. happy for you Jess, love you friend!

.week recap.

another week down!! here's how it went...
Friday: Got out of class, picked the car up out of the shop then drove to Provo and hung out with the fam. Visited Channy at work, then had a "sleepover" in her new apartment.
Saturday: helped mom get food ready for the big day. Ran errands. Went out to dinner with the fam. Visited my lil friend Candice and got to see this little peach : )


Sunday: Watched Taylor speak and was once again reminded how much my little brother is such a better person than me. Saw and visited with lots of family friends from Helper that came to support as well as all the family. Although it was a day where I was reminded just how old I am when the triplets I have watched grow up reminded me that they are seven now, old lady : )
Monday: Homework all morning, packed up my stuff, said my goodbye to Taylor for 2 years, and hit the open road. Got back to Cedar about 6, ate dinner and showered only to changed things from one suitcase to another and hit the road to New Harmony. Sleepover at Cyndi's.
Tuesday: Another early morning wake up call! Busy day at the hospital!! my patient ended up getting lifeflighted, while the other one was having other developing issues that kept us running all day! Lunch at 2-2:15. Met an amazing cancer patient who I'll probably never forget cause she seriously amazed me. left hospital a little before 7. watched a lame excuse of a jazz game, got so irritated had to change it. Another sleepover in new harmony.
Wednesday: early to rise, followed by another long day at the hospital. Had same cancer patient that made my day but was busy!! got to deal with NG tube feedings and meds in the hospital finally. Gave my very own report without my nurse...hope I did alright! Drove to Cedar. did homework until late. bedtime.
Thursday: Class again 9-5. Had an a guest anesthesiologist speaker who stressed us all by talking way above our heads in critical care. Signed up for another year of Americorps. 3 hour dinner at Pizza Factory for Melissa's birthday. Awkward moments in walmart.
Friday: Jessica's wedding day!so skipped class and it was up at 6, on the road by 8. Drove to Manti-hung out in the car while everyone else was in the sealing. Pictures, pictures and more pictures in the freezing wind. Luncheon in Mt. Pleasant, where I ate my body weight in "Cafe Rio" , brownies and ice cream. Actually got a little teary eyed during Jess's dad speech. Visited with good friends, watched myself in the wedding video, and headed for Nephi. Gas and 44oz diet cokes stop then the roadtrip continued to Oak City. Met up with Evan and we scarfed down Crepes at the reception took lots more pictures, and then was back on the road headed home to Cedar. Late night dessert trip to Chili's with Melissa in town visiting, followed by red box movie. Bedtime!



Saturday: "slept in", cleaned house, lunch at Brad's with Kenzie and Mindaaay, drive around Enoch enjoying the beautiful weather. Finally bought 8 seconds (we've been looking for it in the dump bin at Walmart for months and today we had a worker stalk it out in the back today). Watched 8 seconds. Ate home made fajitas, now it's back to the suitcase to pack and hit the road to New Harmony to be at the hospital at 6am.

Such is my life this senior year.....

Elder Olsen

Taylor is officially a missionary!!! his Farewell was last Sunday and he did such a great job, I couldn't be more proud of this kid. Just hard to think that it'll be two years before we get to see him again, I'm gonna miss seeing him around the house when I go home on the weekends, and his harassing/teasing and of course the accents and the "jokes"!! But I can't wait to hear all about his adventures he's gonna have and all the people he's going to meet and bless in Tijuana!

love you Elder O!!

viewer discretion advised...

Here are some awesome pictures from my critical care class last week. We learned how to intubate patients both adults and children and then following lecture and demonstration as well as practice on the mannequins we got to to into the other lab and practice on freshly butchered sheep and cow lungs and hearts!!! such an awesome thing to see how it worked as well as to play around and get bloody : )
pictures may not be appropriate for light stomachs so consider yourself warned....

week in review...

Friday: Surprise visit from Channy, along with a much needed get better soon care package! dinner and dance with ladies!
Saturday: Slept in.Took advantage of the beautiful weather and ran outside!! Danced the night away at Toadz, and got a much needed visit from the Piute cowboys : )
Sunday: movie afternoon with the ladies followed by a nice long drive jammin to tunes and relaxed the day away. Sleepover in New Harmony @ Cyndi's house.
Monday: My 1st preceptor shift!!! holy moly after the holiday breaks I've forgotten how hard is it to get back into the habit of waking up at 4-4:30 to have to be to the hospital in St. George by 5:45. Tough!! My nurse is awesome though, different personality at first but I think we're going to get along great. Felt more like a nurse then I have the past year and half!
Tuesday: Practice Val's all morning with the lower levels, by the afternoon I really could have done an IV piggyback with my eyes closed after teaching it all morning! Homework. Car into shop to investigate check engine light. Snuck into Spirit-did Zumba with Mindaaay. Brady made 3 course dinner. Sleepover At Cynd's house in New Harmony.
Wednesday: Precept shift #2! (2 down 9 more to go!!) got to work with Chemo patients for the first time and learned about positive attitudes and got to see hope with one patients tumor shrinking. got complimented on being "so smart" and a fast learner. Left the hospital at 7, didn't get back to Cedar till about 8. 5:45-8 = LONG DAY!! Cake and Ice cream followed by bowling for Susan's birthday! Late night homework night.
Thursday: Class 9-5. bad mood all morning, lunch with ladies. Learned a girl in our class who just had a baby will not be returning this semester which in turn means not graduating with us in May. had an awesome High acuity class-learned how to intubate, intubated my mannequin patient first try, played around with sheep and pig hearts and lungs, practiced intubating them! awesome pictures to come : ) Homework. snuck in time for the boys b-ball game, followed by another late night homework night.
Friday: packed. studied for quiz. car back into shop for power coolant flush. visit to Brad's for the best diet coke concoction. update blog to complain about how busy my week has been and how exhausted I am : ) class 1-4 followed by drive to Provo to see my lil missionary brother's farewell on Sunday!!

better to be busy than bored!!

final days.

last first week of school is completed!! reality is setting in that I'm really graduating in May and the stress and worry of this reality has put my ulcer in a bad place resulting in quite the sick feeling brittany all week : ) I'm excited but can't believe I'm really at this point. crazy! things that have happened this week...

1. got my preceptoship assignment! my nurse's name is Miriam and she works at DRMC third floor-still haven't heard back from her to know for sure day I start but looks like it'll be a commuting semester for sure!
2. My critical care/high acuity class is SWEET!! first day we talked about intubation and next week the butcher's bringing in lungs and hearts for us to practice and play with : ) and my professor Aja is my favorite! if only I could be as knowledgeable and hard core as she is!
3. my class discovered the braces, classic response " I didn't know you were getting braces on over the break"...yeah I didn't either.
4. A guy in my class is wearing his wedding ring. first time I've ever seen him wear it in the almost 2 years. apparently things are looking up in nursing students relationships this semester!
5. accomplished 2 out the 10 required teaching hours. hooray for headstarts.
6. watched Grey's last night and loved it as always!! such a great hour for me every week :)
also been missing the fam a whole lot this week! after a spending a month straight with them, with drawls have been occurring. especially missing this person...

new year.

Happy new year! I have really come to love fresh starts, for instance it's exciting to for things such as new semesters, new roommates(unless it's living with the one I have now), new journals, and new years. I have always found the unknown a little exciting in the fact that I have no idea what will happen in a semester, or what I'll be able to write about in a new journal, and the experiences I will have in a new year. Exciting stuff to me!
Even more exciting is that 2010 is over! Not gonna lie 2010 was not favorite year, I feel like it's been the worst year that I've had in a while but I'm trying to mostly blame that on a lot of negative changes that took place along with my 2 hardest semesters of nursing school all packaged into one year. Not fun, not happy, not pleasant. So cheers to 2011, may you be a heck of a lot better than last year.
To try to help out 2011 I've decided to make some new goals/resolutions, just like everyone else, to improve and make this year better.
To 2011, My wants and hopes include:
1. Graduate with my BSN!! which also means finally finishing college.
2. Enjoy the journey: instead of complaining and griping so much about how hectic this semester is going to be try to soak up and absorb all the time I have left in college, ask lots more questions, get along with my preceptor, and find the passion I once had for nursing. (No promises there will be no more complaining but I want it to decrease).
3. Stop Procrastinating, and be pro-active. Get things done and put full effort into everything.
4. Pass the N-Clex on first take!!!!! therefore, means get my license : )
5. Do what I wanna do for a change. Come graduation I want to actually take some fun classes(not necessarily at a college) that I never got to take such as enroll in Ballroom Dance Lessons, guitar lessons, and/or Spanish class.
6. Pay off my car.
7. Run more races. At least 2 more 5K's and 1 10K. start training for half marathon.
8. Be more positive, find the good things instead of always focusing on the bad, have hope and more faith. Stop being so bitter.
9. Keep in touch with friends better-both current and old friends. A lot of changes are in my future and a lot coming this year and I wanna keep better track of those I care about.
10. Do more things for others. I feel that I don't act on impulses to help other people out as much as I should and I want to be better about doing so.

phew, a lot of improving I have to do this year. a lot of growing and change ahead this year and I'm looking forward to it! 2011 baby, bring it on!!

.brace.face.brittany.

I have braces. Not kidding although I wish I was!! It's true that even after having them on previously for 5 years they have returned. Long story short my jaw grew forward when I got them off the first time, which has caused to a bad bite, which has lead to me noticeably grinding down my two front teeth just by chewing on a daily basis, which was going to lead to eventual surgery but since the grinding has gotten so bad that I'm actually killing my teeth(true story, can actually happen), we had to take immediate action instead of waiting to do anything with it until I was done with school and I got braces on Wednesday with the hopes they will move my top teeth forward, and do it very quickly!! good news I guess is: if this shindig works I hopefully won't be having to get surgery afterall! bad news I now look like this...

okay maybe not quite like that but when you're almost 23 years old, and already struggling with self conscious issues and someone sticks braces on you (again) that is what i see in the mirror!! so anywho, hopefully I'm still recognize able and I'll try to still act my real age even though the 12 year old depiction I'm now portraying will be really hard to ignore.
enjoy smiling everyone! I'm cutting back on it these days so do it enough for the both of us!!

Holiday Festivities

December turned out to be an extremely busy but great month, once I finished with finals on the 9th and made my way home for the holidays. Here have been a few of the festivities/activities/celebrations that have taken place...
-Welcomed little Jaxon Jacob into the world and the family
-Tanner man's Christmas Ballroom Dance Concert
-Enjoyed Jake being here for his 2 week leave=all 10 of us living under the same roof for those two weeks.
-Christmas shopping
-Jenny's Birthday lunch
-UVU vs. USU basketball game
-Celebrated Brandt family Christmas on the 13th
-Celebrated the December births with family dinners...including an early birthday party for the now "old man" Jake
-Jaxon's baby blessing at my parents house on the 19th
-Ugly sweater party
-Scum, Gestures, and lots of other family night game time
-Food and treats, LOTS of food and treats also delivering the traditional neighborhood Christmas gift, mom's homemade french bread.
-Playing in the snow while Jake was still here-Kez's first time sledding, snow ball fights, and jax gets to see the white stuff up close and personal : )
-Family Bingo-another Christmas tradition
-More Christmas traditions such as: Christmas dinner, Christmas story reading and present opening followed by sleeping outside on Christmas Eve : )
-Wearing sweats majority of the time, hardly getting ready for the day
-Had our last family photo all together for the next 2-4 years
-Dinner and games with Uncle Eric and Fam as they were in town from Tennessee for the Holidays
-Cousin Jake going through the temple New Year's Eve
-Snow shoveling. only this was not a pleasany memory for me, that morning we got dumped on Jake and I went back out to shovel snow and ended up shoveling for 3 hours! I got 3 whopping blisters on just one hand, and a very sore back from that adventure! have I mentioned I hate winter?
-and lots of play and cuddle time with the cutest niece in the world!
I'm sure there's more I could mention but there's a few highlights for now followed by the mass of pictures of course....




















I have loved being home for this whole month, crazy to think that I'm down to only one week before I have to go back to reality and actually having to get dressed and leave the house multiple times a day, and not get fed home cooked food 3 times a day anymore. so I'm going to enjoy my last week of hibernation and start storing food for the rough months ahead, but cheers to some amazing family time, and awesome friends uh!

good men

I love country music (of course?!), anywho there is a song by Emerson Drive entitled "A good man", that I am relating to the birthday post of these two...




"I wanna be the one
When all is said and done
Who lived a good life, loved a good wife, and always helped someone in trouble
On the day they lay me down
I want everyone to gather ‘round
And say he was a father, brother, neighbour and a friend
He was a good man! "
don't worry neither one of them is dying : ) but majority of the words in this here chorus describes both of them.
Both my dad and Jake have shown what it means to sacrifice and are always thinking of others, honor and love their wives, set great examples as fathers, along with many other great qualities! I love my dad so much and look up to him a lot(as I've posted a lot about before)! and Jake has become the older brother I've always wanted and never had before now and I couldn't have chose a better bro-in-law!
by the way....the reason I chose the 5K picture of dad and me is because when we were training for the race(mostly me, he didn't really need to train) I wanted to die the first night we ran the route as a practice and I easily could have quit and just said that I'll take an hour to walk the 3 miles instead thanks! but dad told me as were running to keep going, finish strong and really taught me a great lesson on not giving up that I'll never forget as he stood there coaching me that night right by my side, and continued to teach me that principle on race day as he stayed by my side and ran my pace instead of his pace, a lot faster, which would have gotten him a better time.

Basically what I'm saying is that they really are good men, and I'm wishing you both a happy be-lated birthday as you celebrated a day apart from each other last week : )