Happy Beginning of December!

I love this time of year! On Friday night, I went with some friends to the lights at Temple square. It was hacking crowded, but the temple was beautiful! I took a few pictures to share.

Natalie, Emily and I had a little fun after church today. We did a Christmas Dance Performane, and I thought I would share it all with you. Enjoy! :)

'Tis the season for....

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! My family and I were able to join my grandparents and some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins for the delicious turkey dinner. I had an enjoyable time.

Thanksgiving starts the season of many things. In my opinion, 'tis the season for four specific things. Tis the season to be jolly of course. This is a fun time of year, allowing many opportunities to be with family. Tis also the season to be thankful. This time of year is a great time to reflect on the many blessings we each enjoy every day. We all have so much to be thankful for, and it is so important to express that thanks. Tis also the season of giving. I think the world gets so caught up in receiving sometimes, and forgets to think about other. Try and give of yourself everyday to someone, in some way. The fourth "tis the season," is not a happy one, but it is one I want you all to be aware of. 'Tis the season of burgluries. Sad, but true, this time of year is when robberies and car break-ins spike like no other. To add to that, the crashing economy is seeming to motivate stealing even more. Be aware, and be careful! Be aware of your surroundings. Don't leave ANYTHING in your car when you park in a parking lot. Just take precautions. I hate having to live in fear like this, but better worry and try to be safe, than sorry.

To end on more of a happy note, I have a lovely little cartoon for all you BYU and Utah fans! Enjoy!

http://216.252.110.31/us.f559.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?mid=1%5f2129073%5fAEFu%2fNgAAAnuSTBUOArVYwLQcNE&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1&cred=uErxTU5k3VGSxpDQC.0xb.EfzW4FA5lWrmu8u_4DPqQ3r61rioyjiQOa1wNwi0LVuGkcY66sj3Doh0K8vv.SJegH87TqkCSin9ejew_6BZaU7uY-&ts=1227909714&partner=ymail&sig=0WhYMtDUZhAPrGp_Axj.7g--

Health Promotion + Henry B. Eyring???

Yesterday in my foundations of health promotion class, my professor used a quote in our notes from Henry B. Eyring! Now remember, this is a class at the University of Utah, using a quote from a member of the first presidency of our church! I thought it was pretty cool. It just goes to show how knowledgeable our church leaders our and how their teachings not only help us in religion, but can be applied to school, work, and many other places. The quote my professor used was one about education. She is working to get us all pumped to never stop our education, which in the health field is very crucial, as health and medicing are changing and becoming better and more current all the time. I'm very greatful for this professor and class. Never in my schooling have I had a more inspirational teacher. And now, I shall share the quote my professor used in class:

No service that matters can be given over a lifetime by those who stop learning. A great teacher is always studying. A nurse never stops facing the challenge of dealing with something new, be it equipment or procedure. And the workplace in every industry is changing so rapidly that what we know today will not be enough for tomorrow. Our education must never stop. If it ends at the door of the classroom on graduation day, we will fail…Insatiable curiosity will be our hallmark.
-H.B. Eyring

By the way, I think this is a really funny thing. For our health promotion happy thanksgiving at the U, we all got tangerines. Doesn't that just totally make sense for nerdy health majors like myself? I love it!!!

A Better Understanding Of My Life

This morning in my foundations of health promotion class, my professor ended her lecture in an extremely passionate way, which I can't get out of my head. She was going through some lecture notes on the ethics health professionals must have, in order to be legitimate and successful in their careers. Suddenly she stopped the lecture and started to tell us that there are a very few occasions when she gets on a soapbox in this class, and that today was going to be one of them. She told us that in order of be successful in whatever we do in our lives, we MUST achieve a high set of morals that we live by, and that we need to keep our integrity. She told us this with such more passion and more concern than I have ever seen in any of my professors. Today, more then ever, I finally understand why I'm going into a health profession: I want to do good for other people, and for myself. I'm not going through all this hard education to learn interesting things for myself, I'm going through this to someday be able to share it with larger numbers of people who NEED it! I finally understand that I have the ability to make a change for the better, in someone elses life. I feel more excited than ever about what I'm doing right now with my own life!

Lately, I've also been thinking about what I will do when I graduate from college. If things go as planned, I will graduate in a year, spring 2010, with my bachelor's of science in Health Promotion and Educaiton, with a minor in Human Development/Family Studies. I'm very excited about this, and love to talk about it! Lately though, everyone has been asking what I'm going to do with my degree when I graduate. Here's the problem: My degree is a pretty broad one, and I have way too many interests, so I always have to say I have no idea what to do when I graduate! But if someone were to ask me, today, what I'm going to do, I now have pretty definate answer. I will graduate and find a good job, maybe with Red Cross, Health Department of Utah, or at an eating disorder facility, and work for a good year or so. After about a year or more, I want to apply for graduate school and get my Master's of Public Health, with an emphasis in epidemiology. It is a 2 year program, and after that I want to be an Epidemiologist f the the Utah Department of Health! I'm soooooooo excited about this right now, and feel very good about it. I am really into my major right now, and even though it is difficult, I am loving every minute of it! And by the way, Go Utes tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

Missionary Farewell = Major Party!

My cousin Chloe will be leaving this Wednesday to serve an LDS misison in Italy! In honor of Chloe, we had an "older cousin" party. We had so much fun playing games like catch phrase, twister, and signs. We also enjoyed a delicious ice cream bar. I'm so excited for Chloe, and it is clear she is excited as well. She will do an amazing job. Good Luck Chloe! We all love you!

Here are some pictures from our cousin party.

Meranda, or "Rawanda" as we refer to her.

This is mine and Natalie's sexy pose.

Meranda (eating a spoon), and Natalie

Dancing Peter, and half of Meranda.

Me and Emily having panic attacks while eating ice cream.

Our MAD twister game! We had 2 twister games hooked together.

Cold ice cream Emily!

Isi and Tara laughing at our sweet twister moves!

Chloe and Eddie posing for an ice cream add.

Me and Rawanda playing twister!

Peter serving up the ice cream with Chloe in the background.

Signs game!

Hans and Chloe, and um somebody's foot?

Me, Annie, Ross.

Fun Night!

Last night I hung out with the coolest friends! My friend Maddy is leaving for a trip to Peru this week. She has family there and will be visiting them for 3 weeks! We decided to go out to dinner to hang out with her before she leaves. I can't believe how crowded restaurants are on Saturday nights! We planned on going to Cheesecake Factory, but the line went all the way out the hacking building and we were hacking starving. We decided that we would drive to Jordan landing and go to La Luna. The waiting area was too packed! So we decided to try this new Mexican grill at Jordan called Rubios, which is right next to Famous Dave's. It was a cute little restaurant, and it was actully really yummy. If anyone ever wants to party with me, we can go there. After that we went to my friend Ashley's house to watch a movie. We decided to watch The Ring, which is one of my favorite movies. It was pretty much a fun night. But this week Maddy is leaving for Peru and Ashley is going to Ohio for a Health and Wellness Convention from Thursday to Sunday. That means Natalie and I are stuck here with ourselves! Anyone up for a party? Here are some pictures from our fun last night. This is Me and My friend Ashley at her house.

Maddy and Natalie at Rubio's .

Oh yeah, we are pretty big deals, so don't mess!

This weekend was an exciting one. Emily went with the high school swim to down to St. George for a big swim meet. She dropped 13 seconds off her 500 free and went a 5:43, which is freaking fast for those who are unfamiliar with swimming! She is so going to beat my time in that race, and I'm scared! :)

The Countdown is on for Elder Larsen!

I have a huge announcement to make! My good missionary friend Friend, Jeff, will be returning after two years of serving the Lord in San Diego, on February 2nd, 2009! That is less than 3 months away! I am so excited!

Fall Break 2008!

This week U of U is on fall break! I am so happy. I finally get to catch up on sleep! I will also be catching up on my studying. I get to work a few extra hours. And my "New every two" is today, so I will be getting a new phone,which I am very excited about because my current phone is dying as we speak!

Perhaps I should go take some fall break glamour shots!!!

Massage!

Everybody expeiences stress, usually in their daily life. Some stress is good, eustress, and some stress is bad or unhealthy, distress. Everyone reacts differently to stress. When I experience a lot of stress, usually a mixture of eustress and distress, my shoulders and upper back get really tight and tense. I am, at the moment, sitting on a back massaga chair. I just wanted to share this because I am so tense right now that this back massage is super intense for me. It hurts, but at the same time feels good!

Anyways, I have become addicted to Saturday Night Live clips, especially of the election. So Hilarious!

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things!

Hey everybody! Wow, it's been a while. Ya'll need to give me some ideas to blog about. All I do is go to work and go to school. Well, I do hang out with friends on the weekends. :) Anyways, I just wanted to let ya'll know that my Health Blog is going to be getting back in gear this week! And this time, I'm going to be dilligent about it. As most of you know, I am a Health Promotion major at the U. I love to share the things I learn! So, I'm going to start blogging at least once a week on my health blog with something I learned at school that week. This will also help me review my notes I take in class. :) There is just so much more about public health than most people would ever realize, and I feel it should all be spread to more people than just us Health majors. Anyways, I know this is a boring enrty for the day, but once I get my health blog up and running again, I just hope it will be of interest to ya'll as it is to me. And if anyone ever has any health topics they would like to be discussed, leave me comment!

Thoughts of the Moment.

1. Change is hard. Yep, that's basically all I have to say right now. Change is hard. It is hard to watch, and it is hard to accept. I don't like it. I don't want to accept it. I want everything to stay the same forever, but I know that is impossible.

2. Work support. I have 3 different bosses for my four different jobs I do at the pool. My bosses are all awesome! Lately, one of my bosses has become more of a friend to me, as I've been talking to her about some things I'm experiencing in this stage of life. She is someone who always listens, always gives me advice, and always makes me laugh way hard! The point I'm trying to make here, is that lately I have realized why it is so important to find social support during stressful times. Managing stress is one of the most important things I have learned in my health promotion classes at the U. I just never thought work would be the place that I would find that kind of support, but I'm very thankful for it. :)

3. Saying No. A couple people have pointed out to me that I need to learn how to say no! I never tell people no. I am too much of a people pleaser, and that causes me to over-book myself. I like to be busy, but not so busy that I have no time to sleep. Anyone have any advice on how to make saying no to people not make me feel so guilty???

Aren't Shopping Carts Strange?

Remember Septerber 11th, 2001

Just a note, if you want to view these video clips, go to the bottom of my blog page and pause my music so that you can hear the songs in the clips I have posted. They are really great, and I recommend watching them.



I've been thinking alot about 9/11 2001 today. It has now been seven years since the tragic day. I was only in eigth grade. I remember just after 9/11 someone said, "you will never forget what you were doing when you found out America was attacked." Well, to support that, I never have forgotten what I was doing the moment I found out. I was eating breakfast, which happend to be a poptart that day. I was watching the news, and I even remember what chair I was sitting at at the table.

My strongets feeling about 9/11 this day is that we, as Americans, should try our best to never forget 9/11/01. There are so many people who will not watch any news coverage of the day, or who will not even talk about what happened seven years ago. I feel it is so important we never forget the horrific events our country experienced, or the people who died that day, or the poeple who continue to die for our country to make sure nothing like September 11th ever happens to us again. One important reason we remember is to show respect, but also to attempt to sympathize with those who were greatly effected by the tragedies of that day.

Just some random thoughts:

Last night at work, I was talking to 2 of my bosses about 9/11, one of whom has a husband in the military. We discussed how right after 9/11, America was more patriotic than ever before. It makes me sad to see how over these past few years, that patriotism has dwindled. People are forgetting.

We also talked about news coverage of the event. Lots of parents and schools would not let students or children view the attacks in New York and the plane crashes in PA, and DC. One of my bosses then mentioned that she had her TV on constantly for weeks after the event. She said that when something like this happens, you just have to see it to be able to try to sympathize, or to be able to feel patriotic. Personally, I feel the news coverage of September 11th, 2001 should be replayed many, many times a year. My other boss, actually kept news articles and clips from the event. She said she even has the news paper from that horendous day.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that September 11th, 2001 never should be forgotten. People of all ages should be exposed to everything that happened. I also want to show my deep grattitude for the men and women, and their families, who are out right now fighting for our country. I know we would not be where we are today without them.

Tuition Day = DOOM!!!!

I just finished up a wonderful Friday night of paying tuition. I hate tuition day. After I pay, I feel like I've just had a major blow to the head! I feel like a cartoon character who just got pounded in the head, and I can now see the little stars circling my head. I absolutely love college, but I hate tuition. It seems like tuition prices go up every semester at the U. Sometimes I wonder if my future kids will even be able to afford college with how expensive it is getting. That really scares me. Anyways, I've decided the best time of day to pay tuition is at the end of the day, so that you can go to bed and just sleep of the trauma of the experience. That pretty much sums it up, so goodnight!

I'm Back!!!!

Hey everybody! I'm sorry I did not blog all summer. I was way busy working overtime to get ready for school. I also got to do tons of fun stuff. Now that school has started, I'm going to blog again. Hope ya'll had a great summer. Here is a list of things to catch you up on my crazy life:

*This summer alone, I rescued 8 kids at the pool who could not swim. I treated a million bloody noses. I treated to deep cuts which required further care from a doctor. I fixed a couple minor scrapes. I binded and slung 1 arm. I wrapped one sprained ankle. I splinted one toenail that was falling off a girl. I treated one heart attack until paramedics came and took over. I treated one dislocated toe which was turned over to doctors.

*I went to Yellowstone and to a rodeo in Sheridan Wyoming with my friends.

*Jeff comes home in 5 more months.

*I got 2 more jobs at the pool this summer. I am now a head guard and an Operations Supervisor.

*I got to be interviewed on the radio for American Red Cross Lifeguarding.

*I competed in lifeguard games.

*I got 5 different tan lines this summer.

*I had alot fun this summer!

I had a way fun summer. But I am glad to be back in school. Hope everyone has a great day!

Happy Graduation!

Natalie Graduated last week, on June 5th, 2008. We are super proud of her, and I am way excited because she will be with me at the U in the fall! I will finally have a friend at school! I am so excited. Here are a few pictures from her graduation:

Emily and Natalie before graduation
Mi familia after graduation

This is me with Heather Larsen (Jeff''s little sister). She was Valedictorian for her and Natalie's class. She is one of my favorite people ever! Congratulations Heather!

Congratulations Natalie! Good luck with your future!

(By the way, I have no idea why these pictures came out so small. Oh well. I ain't no computer science major!)

Look At My Missionary!

Jeff's sister just sent me this picture of Jeff a couple weeks ago. For those of you who aren't sure, Jeff is on the far left, in the baptismal clothes. This is him and his companion and one of the new members they were able to baptize.

Happy 20th Birthday To Me!

Today is my birthday! I was thinking about something some of my extended family members do on their blogs for birthdays. Usually they do some sort of "tribute" to whoever is having a birthday. In conclusion, I have decided to do a "tribute" about myself for my birthday. I know, that must sound extrememly cocky, and well, it is. Just deal with it. Plus, I have alot of cool pictures I needed to display somewhere and what better place to do that than on my fantastic blog? Here are some of the activities this little birthday rat has been up to lately:

Chilling out at Letharby's with my friends, literally.
Doing creepy things with one creepy monster that lives in the room next to me.

Posing in front of the beautifeul industrial areas below Ensign Peak.

Going on hot dates!

Floating, if ya know what I mean.

Midnight movie premier of "Indiana Jones."

Don't ask, just accept it.

Getting sunburned and then peeling like a lizzard.

Having Cafe Rio parties at work.

Going to Bees games with my friends.

Ensign Peak

Friends

"Friends are angels lifting us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."