The End of Nowhere...

Yesterday, I went to the end of nowhere.  I don't know if you've ever been to the middle of nowhere, but if you keep going passed the middle of nowhere, you reach the end of nowhere.  That's where I went yesterday.  I have a really fun job with the American Red Cross.  One thing I do, is I go all over our chapter and teach health and safety courses to businesses and organizations.  Yesterday, I went with 3 other instructors, and our location was seriously in the end of nowhere.  We drove for an hour to get to this place.  I'm not kidding, the one road that lead out to the location kept going, and going, and going.  I really wondered if we would ever actually get somewhere.  It was quite interesting.

The location we went to is a place that deals with a lot of hazardous material and nuclear crap or something like that.  Basically, it could potentially be a very dangerous workplace if workers are not careful.  I got a little scared by some of the things I saw.  At one point during our class, I got pretty freaked out.  All of the sudden a siren was blaring over the PA system in the complex.  I was about to jump up and book it outside.  But all the employees sat calmly in there chairs as if they had heard nothing at all.  Eventually a voice came over the system explaining that this was just a test of the emergency system.  Thank goodness!

The other thing that feaked me out were the guest day badges that we were given.  One side of them had emergency alert codes and what they meant.  It said what to do if you hear a yellow alert or what to do for some other types of alerts.  One of them was a red alert and it said if you hear that to run away from the location as quickly as possible!  I was scared!  But I guess it made our teaching experience just a little more interesting. 

The best part of the day was after our class was done.  We were teaching very close to where my friend Nate lives.  That means I got to hook up with Nater after class.  We had a little picnic in a park and then took off on a beautiful hike.  We hiked up a peak and was seriously 2.5 miles, straight up to the sky!  It was steep!  But it was great.  The higher we went, the more gorgeous the autumn leaves became.  We also had some amazing views of the valley.  We made it to the top, enjoyed the scenery and the reward of the steep climb up.  We headed back down the mountain, and met up with his family for dinner.  It was one exciting and awesome day!  I'm happy!  Here are some pictures of the hike.  These were taken only about half way up, so you can see how steep/high we climbed.

End of Summer Review

Summer time is over!  Fall is in the air.  I love summer.  Sometimes I wish it could be never-ending.  But this week, I'm feeling fall in the air, and I'm pretty excited.  Change always brings new things.  The chaning of seasons brings new sights, smells, temperatures.....etc.  But I feel pretty lame for not blogging all summer.  I guess I got pretty busy this summer, and I kind of forgot that I had a blog.  This summer was great.  I'm so thankful I came back home for summer.  I needed to be here this year.  I feel like I actually accomplished a lot this summer.  I have been working part time with aquatics at the pool, and I got hired at the American Red Cross part time.  Finally, I got my foot in the door with public health!  Don't know where it will take me next, but for now, I am content, and comfortable.  I also accomplished to huge goals of mine this summer!  I wanted to run a half marathon this year.  I ended up running 2 half marathons, and am training for my third which will be in October.  My other goal was to do an open water triathlon.  I've done a couple of pool tri's, but have been too scared to do open water.  I guard open water tri's all the time, and I finally braved up and did one!  And I loved it!  Way cooler than pool tri's!  Our summer ended by helping our mom and grandma get through total knee replacement surgery.  THAT, has been an adventure in itself.  Here are some pictures of my summer 2011 adventures.  The above was the summer kick-off team adventure.  We went to Las Vegas for the Glee concert!!!!  We spent about 3 hours pool side at our hotel, trying to get some sun and vitamin D.

 This was my fist time staying on the Las Vegas Strip that I can remember.  We chose the Excalabir.  We even hit up the hotel buffet.  Yeah, it was great.

 This is the Team.  Angie, Rachael, Natalie, and me. 

 Glee!

 I kind of started the summer with a crappy running accident.  I had to wear a wrist splint after this!

 Lagoon with one of our bff's, Shelley.

 My first Half!  Freedom Half on July 4th.

 Cole!  My cute little nephew.  We played with Cole ALOT all summer.

 4 of the Headguards at Fire Water Ice Festival.  We were in control of about 65 lifeguards for 4 hours!

 The annual Fire Water Ice Festival lifeguard tunnel run.  My friend and I started this a couple years ago.  I love to see that we still do it.

 Part of our first aid team at FWI.

 Yeah, these 2 paramedics were pretty easy on the eyes.  We got to play with them all day!

 Modeling the first aid table.

Oh yeah, I met a new friend at the end of summer.  This is my friend Nate.

Well, that's that I guess.  I have to go to work now.  Goodbye summer!  Hello fall!

New Comforter!

So, I decided to get a brand new comforter for my bed. I was so excited about it and it finally came today! It has palm leaves and flowers on it! Its so soft and fluffy and I can't wait to cuddle up under it and sleep. :) I've never had any bedding this nice before so I'm totally freaking out! Well, goodnight all!

Cole's First Birthday!

My little nephew, Cole, turned 1 year old this week! He is such a cute, funny little boy and I love him so much! During the week, Cole and him mom come over to our house to exercise. During this time, we get to play with Cole! It is a lot of fun. One day this week, Cole was playing with us while Maddie was working out, and he started barking at this little dog toy we have. It was the cutest bark! Maybe even cuter than the bark is the funny face Cole makes with his lips in order to do the bark sound. It was so cute! After hearing him bark, I decided to get Cole a puppy stuffed animal for his birthday. I went and found the cutest, softest puppy I could! When we gave it to Cole, he was all over it! Maddie said it makes him really hyper. Mission accomplished! He hugged the puppy, barked at it, shook it, and rolled on the ground with it! I think he likes it. It was even hard to get a picture because he wouldn't hold still with it. It was really cute! Here is our attempted picture: Anyways, I think we had a pretty fun birthday celebration for this little guy. I know I had fun. I love watching Cole and playing with him. His favorite thing to do lately is to headbutt us all. I don't know why he does it. It is funny, but you have to be careful or it really can hurt. He has also started walking, which is fun. Happy Birthday Cole! I love you!

To Haley:

31 years ago, on this day, April 8th, my cousin Haley was born. Haley Quinn. Haley is my idol. Her birthday is the one day I look forward to all year long. I celebrate her birthday more intense than I do my own. Haley said that I'm her favorite cousin. She also said that she is intimidated by me. But she still likes me alot.

Debbie

Debbie called me today. Debbie works for Oriental Trading. Debbie wanted to thank me for my recent purchase from Oriental Trading. Debbie wanted to ask how my experience was. Debbie wanted to make sure I had a good experience with Oriental Trading. Debbie was nice. I wish I had Debbie's phone number. I'd like to call Debbie back and thank her for thanking me.

Dear &%#$@:

For quite sometime you have been an idiot. You won't look at me or speak to me unless you need someone to blame something on. But you know what? I don't even care. I can just walk away, think of bad words in my head, and then blog about you, and you will never even know. I am good. I'm not playing your stupid, dumb game. If only you could see how rediculous you are being. I think that you need to go to an attitude change meeting.

Why this weekend has been great:

1. Get to see my family!

2. Went to "Just Running" water aerobics with Natalie and distracted her!

3. Got to tease Emily about another boy.

4. Got to plan my wedding with my mom. Its going to be great! One word: Butcher Paper!

5. Went to Sam's club.

6. Went to cycling with Natalie and the instructor was insane! She made us dance on our bikes. If she can get certified to teaching cycling, then I can get certified to teach it.

7. Watched my nephew smile and laugh when he saw me. That was fun!

WSI

Back in January, I went to the American Red Cross Safety school to become a certified Instructor Trainer. Well, I got to use that certification these past 3 weeks as I taught my first Water Safety Instructor class. It was great and best of all, everybody passed and is now certified! This is a picture of my cute little class doing the huddle, a water safety technique.

To Grandma, With Love

This may sound a little goofy, but a line from the song "To Sir, With Love" quotes best what I feel right now. It says, "But how do you thank someone, who has taken you from crayons to perfume? It isn't easy, but I'll try."

My grandma passed away yesterday, January 22nd, 2011 at 3:15 P.M. At 8:30 a.m., I was still snoozing away as I had sort of a rough week. Suddenly, I was being awakened by the sound of my phone ringing. It was my mom. She was crying and told me she had spent the night at the hospital. I thought something had happened to my mom, unil I heard the next two words "its grandma." My mom told me that in the night my grandma had been rushed to the hospital, and no body was certain she was going to make it. As my mom continutes to tell me everything that happened, all I could do was cry while I listened and hope I was dreaming. The pain of the thought of loosing my grandma made it clear that this was no dream. When my mom finished telling me everything, the only thing I could say through my tears was "can I please come home today?" Of course my mom pleaded that I do, but not to rush through all my emotions. Not long later my boss called me, not know what was hapenning in my family at the moment. I answered the phone. My boss didn't even say "hi," all he said was "are you okay?" It kind of stunned me and I wondered if he knew. He didn't. I told him about my grandma and all he said was "you do what you need to do." Feeling greatful to have his support and concern, I packed and began my 4 hour drive home. As I was pulling into the Salt Lake Valley, my dad called me and calmly said "Lauren, just go straight home. Grandma has passed." When he told me, as I felt the pain of loss, I was overwhelmed with a calming spirit. I realized that my grandma never has to suffer again. She is not coughing anymore. She can stand up straight. Her legs don't hurt. Her feet don't hurt. She is with her family, and with our Lord and our Savior. I have not doubt about that.

My grandma is an amazing woman. She took care of everyone, including her neighbors. She made me feel special for whatever I did. I have so many fun memories of her. I remember once when I was little, my parents dropped us off and Grandma and Grandpa's house to get tended. I threw a big, huge temper tantram and tried to run away from my grandma. But guess what? She caught me and brought me right back inside and calmed me down. She always came to grandparents' day at our elementary school and alwasy took us for french fries and ice cream afterwords. She showed us all how important family is. Somehow, she was always able to pull our massive extended family together at once! Grandma was our lifeguard at her pool. Once we became college students, she called us brats and whacked us with her cane if we teased her. She loved being teased, and I loved being whacked by my grandma. She took care of us all. I miss her allready. Its going to be hard without her on earth, but I know she is in a better place. I hope I can continue to learn from her example. I love you grandma! Thank you for being the best grandma ever!

I Have Alot To Say.....

.......so I'm going to blog again.