DeeAnna's 23!

Well another year has come and gone, and now I'm on to the big 23. They always say another year older is another year wiser... I suppose that may be true. I've compiled a short list of the wisdom my 22nd year has left with me:

- Eggs freeze in the back of the fridge
- Money not budgeted magically disappears
- Migraine headaches are still misery
- Ping Pong is the game of champions... and I need serious work
- Husbands are not accountable for what happens in the kitchen without wife supervision
- You can survive nursing school and there is life after!
- Primary is the greatest calling

I'm excited for what year 23 will bring. So far it has come bearing cake, balloons, flowers, and a date to Olive Garden with my sweetheart. This year is shaping up to be pretty good. Oh to be 23!

Easter Time

The Easter Egg competition this year was definitely the tightest we've ever seen. Each competitor really pulled out all the stops and brought everything they were made of, and it definitely showed, the results were breathtaking! The judges deliberated for hours but finally concluded that Tim's impressive tribute to Boise State takes first place followed closely by the Plaid egg submitted by DeeAnna. Excellent work everyone, we look forward to next year!

Easter is by far one of my most favorite times of the year! I am always so grateful for the reminder of our Savior's love for us manifest in His life, His atonement, His death, and most importantly His triumphal resurrection. I know He lives and am grateful for the hope and purpose that knowledge brings to my life. I really loved this Easter message and hope everyone has a wonderful time celebrating!

College Education!

YAY!!! Finally!!! After a year and a half of biology work and 3 years of living and breathing nursing I am finally done! Oh so wonderful! Granted, I still do have a few classes to finish up to get the next level nursing degree... and I still have to pass the state board exam hanging over my head to be officially official. But at least I will be able to see what life looks like outside of the library! Hello world, and make way for a new college graduate!!! Feels good

This is the face of a person who has just received her Nurse's pin!

And this is the face of a person who has just received a diploma!



And this has been my life... so... much.... studying.......

Thank you to all of my wonderful family for all of your support, you totally rock! And thanks to a fabulous husband who made a fabulous graduation dinner! You're the greatest!

Oh yeah... we moved

So as it turns out, good old Davenport Men's Apartments is being retired (read: torn down because of bed bug infestation... yuck!). So we moved to a new little place! It's a super cute basement apartment just a few blocks away, so we'll get to stay in the same ward. AND it comes complete with a bathroom that isn't out the front door! Sweet!!

(This travel system actually worked out quite a bit better than it looks)




And a little baby Borup. We're hoping to get tomatoes from him, we'll see how we do

The End

I am reporting to you live from the living room of a lady who is officially done with 3:00 AM alarm clock settings, 14 hour days, and uncomfortable, totally unattractive blue and white scrubs!! Yes folks that's right, nursing program clinical hours are officially completed! Hallelujah! ...I could get used to this

Again, I don't know why that wall looks SO green in pictures... totally gross! But, still better than the pink

Medical Discoveries

Winter always brings the coolest stuff; sledding, skiing, snow balls, caroling, hot chocolate and fuzzy pajamas! Unfortunately it also usually brings a few unwanted tag-alongs; sneezing, coughing, running noses and the fevers. Winter illness is always such a treat. This snowy season however I have been lucky enough to discover a new brand of physiologic abnormality. The victim: my ear!

For the past couple weeks I have had these awful ear pains. And (although I wish we were) we're not talking just aches, but super sharp stabbing-like things shooting in my inner ear and down my neck. Totally unpleasant + completely unpredictable = one unhappy, on edge woman. At first it was just every once in a while, but by Friday I was really struggling.

So, for the love of a wife who was in pain and miserable, Tim jumped online to see what he could see. After a bit of reading and symptom comparing we decided it could be A: a tumor, or B: trigeminal neuralgia... we had never heard of it either. But thanks to the online medical dictionary we quickly became educated.

Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN): a neuropathic disorder characterized by episodes of intense pain in the face, originating from the trigeminal (fifth cranial) nerve. It occurs when pressure is placed on the nerve and has been described as among the most painful conditions known.

We were hoping for option B over A, obviously. We of course sought a professional opinion and wouldn't you know Tim's diagnosis was right. One of my professors is an ear nose and throat doctor and he said that TN can often affect young adults vulnerable to miner illness, totally likely given my track record. The nurse practitioner at the health clinic said I probably had some fluid build up in my inner ear from an old cold or viral infection that was putting pressure on the acoustic portion of the nerve. She gave me some sudafed and as of today (just over a week later) I am totally pain free! Such a relief. We can now lock this away in my random odd illness archive and cross our fingers that we never ever EVER have to pull this file again!

(Happy side note: this unfortunate happening gave me a pleasant advantage when Trigeminal Neuralgia showed up on my nursing exam the next week... blessing in painful disguise I guess)