BJ and I went out and bought pumpkins Saturday and had a lot of fun carving them this last Sunday. After we finished, BJ toasted some of the pumpkin seeds...it was way yummy!!! BJ doesn't cook or prepare food very often but when he does it is AMAZING! We are having his old mission companion and his wife over for dinner this Thursday...and we get the pleasure of BJ making his wonderful lasagna! I am way excited!

Did you ever wonder what it takes to become a nurse? Well, maybe you didn't, but I'm telling you it takes a lot! Well, here's a small list of the things that Christie is doing right now just to become a nurse...

• 3 days of school a week
• 2 days of 8 hour clinicals
• At least 1 test and quiz every week
• Minimum grade of 80 required
• Regular patient care pass-offs
• Studying 3-5 hours every day including Saturdays

I don't know about your schooling, but I don't ever remember having to do so much. I mean, I study a fair amount, but I don't have hard tests every week, and the minimum grade is a lot lower for most degrees! But at the same time, isn't it comforting to know that they have a high standard for our health care employees!Oh, and nursing school isn't all bad - here's a short list of good things that Christie is getting from all of this

• friends (you girls rock, thank you!)
• learning
• patient interaction
• preparation
• RN

Did I mention I love my wife!? She's so busy and still does so much for me. Keep it up honey!

I just wanted to thank my wonderful husband BJ and my friend Rosalee and mom for talking to me yesterday and letting me vent. I really appreciate you guys. I am loving nursing school but it is a lot of work and at times feels a little overwhelming. (tiffany don't stress....I am just a big worry wart you will do absolutely amazing!)
For those of you that don't know me well, I worry about everything...more than the average person. I think it was just a curse I was born with. :D
But I have to say, that nursing school is helping me deal with stress and helping me not to worry as much. There is just so much -that if I were to worry as much as usual I wouldn't make it! So it has definitely been teaching me and helping me cope better.
I am sure this won't be the only breakdown I will have for the next year but it really helped to have the reminder of why I want to be a nurse and that it will be all worth it in the end. This will be a huge accomplishment for me and I know I can do it, I guess I just need a little reminder sometimes. So thanks again guys!

Elephants, kids and clowns! That's who we spent our evening with last night! We went to the circus. Christie and I must be kids at heart, not having kids ourselves, but we had a ton of fun. It was awesome to see the elephants - one of them even painted a picture. We saw some pretty spectacular twists, rides and heard some roars from the tigers. I don't ever remember going to the circus, nor does Christie - but we had an awesome time. What clowns!

WOW. We made it! These last 3 weeks have been pretty busy. With BJ working full time and going to school full time and Christie starting the nursing program and working Friday nights...we end up staying pretty busy to say the least.