A most productive week!

It's been a little over a year since my life became sorta topsy turvy when my ex moved out.  For a lot of reasons but this post isn't about him. But there is sure to be more about it...it's just too...odd. This post is about a week that I finally feel like I'm getting my shit together.  It's not completely together but who are we kidding, that will never happen.  It keeps life spicy!!

To start out, I took THREE full days off of any work.  THREE!!! In a row! 

I sure made them productive too!

Monday started out at noon with a long run with this girl!

This is Jill.  I've known her forever at the hospital and we started seeing each other at races.  We started talking about running in Park City and finally were able to get the schedules to sync and the planets aligned and it was a great 11 mile run.  A little slow because we talked talked talked, but it was awesome! Hanging out with Jill is like hanging out with the really smart cool kid that makes you laugh.  A lot.

Running anywhere but in the SLC valley is pretty much what is happening now. Between storms we get an inversion that is a soupy yucky mess of air.  Although I don't have any asthma or health problems I'm not going to chance it by running in basically poisonous air.

Inversion as per freedictionary.com

 Meteorology An atmospheric condition in which the air temperature rises with increasing altitude, holding surface air down and preventing dispersion of pollutants.

I took this picture from our helipad at the UofU Hospital a while ago. I'm taking a picture of downtown, which you can't see because of the inversion.  The hospital sits on the hill so sometimes it's clear of the inversion but the longer we go without a storm the bigger it gets.  The inversion, not the hospital.

Tuesday I took my car in for a good go though.  Like an annual doctor exam my car needed it's "pap and grope".  Over the weekend it did this.

BAM!

No one was harmed in the taking of these pictures but I was going 60 mph.  I don't recommend it.  I'm a skilled iPhone pic taker.

Of course my car situation isn't a subject I like to keep you abreast of.  (teehee - I said breast)  But to recap quickly.

Three years ago I leased an awesome Subaru Legacy.

18 months ago I bought my daughter a Nissan Sentra

14 months ago my ex moved out

12 months ago my daughter was then kicked out (breaking rules!) and I kept the car.

ONE month ago I returned the Subaru. 

I loved that Subaru but with the ex moving out of my house I needed to free up the money for, ya know....a house payment.  

Kapish?

Quiz later.

I took my car into a dealership, which I hate doing, but I had bought an extended warranty on it and I still had 10,000 miles left on the warranty.  Best purchase ever!  I spent 200.00 on 1000.00 worth of repairs.  Now the Nissan is smoothly running the road like it owns it!  I'm hoping for another 100,000 miles out of her!  

While we were down to one car (LaShonda the Honda) I put Daniel to work and did something my daughter thought would never happen.

  The office!  

I gave up the idea of pulling the carpet and painting all the trim to just get shit together.  After I spent a while cleaning out the room with all the crap in it then with Daniels help (thank you son!) we moved the furniture up from downstairs. I didn't have to buy anything new and the bookcase behind the desk is a gift from Austin, my oldest. LOVE!

The next day I cleaned and organized and cleaned the house.

After almost 6 years I have a desk and office that is MINE!  I'm so excited! I'm at the desk right now typing this post.  For years I've been typing on my laptop while sitting on the couch or in bed, but now I can sit at a desk and it's amazing!

 I still have some work to do but it's so much easier with a desk.  As soon as I get my file cabinet in here then I'll be able to file receipts instead of using the old, "throw it in the box" style.  

Here is a picture that was circulating Facebook by AirMed and the University of Utah hospital.

For very strict HIPPA laws I can't talk about the details.

A nurse on one of our other teams took the picture.

I'm in the trauma bay at the U.

It will stand out as one of the most tender moments of my career.  I'm not much of a toucher when it comes to patients.  Because I've seen so much tragedy, death, dismemberment and sadness I have a different view of life that some may construe as a hard heart.  I say a lot of, "Buck up buckaroo, life could be worse".  

This day my patient just wanted to be held, by me.

It was an honor.

All in all an awesome week!  I didn't blog, obviously.  But I still have a few half written posts that I hope will get posted soon.  I mean...I have a desk and everything!

Blog on.............

It's my blog and I'll swear if I want to...

Not really, I don't have anything to swear about.  I'm not talking about the big ones, just the easy slips....

I have so many great ideas for blogging and I'm a little sad that I'll never post them.  OK, I may post some, but this is my journal of sorts and this summer has proved I'm not in the mood to write in my journal.  For a little bit I thought that maybe I was a little depressed (Low in spirits, dejected).  Then I thought I was just apathetic (Feeling or showing a lack of interest or concern; indifferent).  I think it's a combination of being lazy and just not caring too much.  

Exactly.

Not sure where it comes from but probably a mix of picking up another job, the divorce, more responsibilities and i love being able to spend time just doing nothing.  

But I have been running.  I ran 10 miles on the trail last week and 8 miles today.  

Why I run in the mountains.  This was my turnaround point.

Great trails and nice and cool.

I love taking pictures of awesome trails.  Especially going downhill.

My camelbak is smaller so I threw on my RooSport so I would have more storage for the longer run.

I've also FINALLY set aside time to work on my office.  I gave up trying to cut in the entire room so I taped.  But then I forgot to prime over the ceiling paint that got on the walls.  Let's just say I had some touching up to do around the top.

Getting stuff together.

Taping, taping, taping.  Prepping takes FOREVER!

Three walls done.

 The accent wall.

It was left over from my son's room.  I really love the colors.

It doesn't have primer in it like the tan color.  I wish I would have noticed that before I did two coats. 

This mornings run.

It has been very humid for Utah.  I'm getting use to the insane sweating I do when I run. I need to put together a better training schedule but I'm sure enjoying the runs I get done.

Other things that have happened.

My parents came over for dinner.  It was Austins birthday and he was going to go out of town.  So nice to have the parents over.  I don't think I have ever seen my dad without his calendar and pen in his pocket.  Ever.

Ran the Epic Relay.

Met some great people.

Had a really good time!

Took my first ice bath with an entire bag of ice.

It was after my 10 mile trail run.

Check out the ankle tan lines and the dirty feet.  Bad ass huh?

Work, work, work.

This was on my way for team pictures.  

Just so you know, my flight suit is really black.  Even with minimal clothing underneath I think I lose a little bit of my soul every time I have to be outside in it during this oppressive humid heat.

OR..I could be exaggerating.

It's just hot!

So that's whats happening.  

Hoping to get back in the groove but not certain I will.  

I do Instagram every day and sometimes it's even entertaining!

Buddahkat on Instagram

Buddahkat is a nickname/username from about 15 years ago.  It is derived from Saturday Night Live and "Coffee Talk".....Mike Myers.  When he says, "Like buddah" meaning smooth, like butter.  It has nothing to do with Buddha.  

When you feel like doing nothing, do you feel depressed, lazy or just unmotivated?

Trail running, love it? hate it?

Blog on................ 

Back to my regularly scheduled life.

 It's summer!

This is what happens when your plane sits in the sun and we forgot to pull down the shades.  Hot as Haites!!!  I may or may not have been whining at this point.  Luckily it was a non patient leg of a transport.  Also, super lucky, the airplane has some great A/C!   

Work has been super busy.  Not just the actually hours I put in but the extra training and stuff involved with being a flight nurse.  My second job is going great and I don't have anymore "after work hours" stuff to do.  Being a nurse is a blast, but the continuing education can be over whelming.  With that, I'm done with excuses and whining.  I love working hard and even though my blog suffers, I don't!  

Plus the running....

A quick 3 mile run in Rock Springs.  Getting ready for the Wasatch Back in a couple of weeks and running at a higher elevation.  My pilot made fun of me in this outfit.  He was sure I couldn't be seen....haha

Here is my new brace.  

The only pain I have now is around the Peroneal nerve.  

(notmyfoot)

I'm not sure that I have tendonitis there but I wouldn't be surprised.  

My foot hurts the worse when I am in my flight boots. I looked everywhere for flight boots that may help but they are so expensive and there is no guarantee the pain would be better.  So I bought the brace and it fits nicely in my flight boots and so far so good.  My foot aches when I'm on it all day but the PF part of my pain is still pretty much gone since the surgery.  

Just still taking it slow on my runs and working on form.  It's not very exciting and I can't wait to get back to higher miles.  I just pimped all my friends into running and now they are running like crazy and I hate missing out!

In the meantime, I'm trying out this cleanse.

Here is a review (not mine).

Her review on the second time around.  She has some good hints!

It took a while to find a week when I had 3 days that I thought would work but I've started today.  My expectations are not to loose ton's of weight or anything (it's only 3 days!) but to get rid of this weird feeling of fullness.  I know I snack too much even though I eat healthy 90% of the time. 

THEN..just before I started.  My Magic Bullet bit the dust.  It had put in some good time so I wasn't too heartbroken.  I replaced Mr. MB toot sweet!

DOES ANY JOB IN 10 SECONDS....OR LESS!

How can I pass on that?  The new one has the bigger smoothie glasses with sipping tops.  It also has the bigger blender attachment. 

Its the small things.........

What is your favorite recent purchase?

Blog on............

5th wheel out for fun

I wrote an entire blog about my night out last night, my Whole30 sins and plans for my last day off.  

Don't you hate it when your hard work is just deleted magically.  

Well, it included Tera, whiskey, bacon covered shrimp and meal plans with my kids tomorrow.

I just hit the highlights.

The picture above reminds me of my friend Tera if Karen was blonde and only waving a finger.  

Don't be jealous.

Blog on...............

Book Review

While I've been running around like crazy I listened to another running book.

 

"At least he never walked"

And his most famous quote:

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” 
― Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Credit Goodreads.com

It was a pretty good book.  I had started it earlier and was unable to finish so I started over again.  It is only around 8 hours long and a real easy listen.  Mr Murakami is an author that during the time of writing this book was moving around from Hawaii, Tokyo and the Northeast of the United States. He runs daily and runs a marathon at least once a year. 

In one story he talks about running in Greece the original marathon route only from Athens to Marathon instead of Marathon to Athens.  He was doing it as part of a magazine article so there would be press there but that is about it.  He was also doing it in intense heat.  Haruki was surprised to learn that most people that commit to running it for press usually just take a few pictures and run a little and not actually do it.  He was determined to finish and in the heat it was a killer.  The way he described what I call the "hate run" is spot on.  You know those runs where something or everything is just not right and your mind just gets hateful.  Hateful at the birds, people passing by and by anything else that pops into your mind.  He finishes the run because Mr. Murakami has an strong set of principles.

He also talks about the little things that running teaches him and the big things.  He credits running for his success in writing.  He also states that doing one ultra marathon was enough for him.  The book itself almost helped me understand in concrete thoughts why I was a runner. 

Definitely a great read.  I would be interested in reading some of his other work that has been translated.    

Have you read anything by Haruki Murakami?
Have you read this book?
Did you like it?

Speaking of books, if you get a chance zip over to this blog:

  Running, Writing and Chasing The Dragon

A blog by writer Mark Matthews.  I stumbled onto his blog and started following it because of his running.  I continued to catch up whenever he posted because his writing is creative, interesting and entertaining.  Even when he is doing a quick running blog post I admire how easy and entertaining it is to read.  

I just ordered one of his books off Amazon for my Kindle app. 

The Jade Rabbit

 

I'm excited to read it and will review it when I'm done.  

Blog on..........

Running Pop Quiz

I found this yesterday and filled it out.  I love talking about running and this was a perfect way to do it!  Plus I'm working today and I knew there wouldn't be anything too interesting to blog about.  Which was true - I took a nap.  Paperwork.  woohoo.

From the Blog:  The Hungry Runner Girl

Janae at HRG posted a quiz today and I thought that I would share it.  
(I ran the Wasatch Back with her hubby and it is one of my favorite running blogs)

1. FUEL:  Honey stinger goo. Sometimes the jelly beans. Working towards a more natural fueling with Trader Joes fruit sauce Crushers or make my own natural goo.  If all else fails, a banana.

2. Race Length: LOVE relays and half marathons.  My addiction to Relay's is obvious.

3. Workout Bottoms: Shorts when it's hot and capri's when it's cool.  My long Nike cold pants when it's freezing.  I haven't found a running skirt I like.  I don't like the compression shorts - they aren't complimentary to my figure..

4. Sports Drink: NUUN.  I use No-Xplode pre-workout on occasion. Lots and lots of water.

5. Running Temperatures: Perfect fall or spring coolness.

6. Running Shoe Brands: Saucony.  Love the low heel drop.

7. Pre-race meal: Protein drink, banana and just before I start I have a Crusher or two.

8. Rest Days: I run about 3-4 days a week.  Cross train with pilates/TRX or barre class the other days.  Usually only 1 day a week without any exercise.

9. Music: I love having it!  I love making a playlist for each race with my favorites at the time.

10. #1 reason for running: I am addicted.  I started just for fun and the joke is on me.  I love racing, relays and I love how fit it has made me and is keeping me as I age.

What are your answers to these questions?

Do you have anything you do/eat/wear when you are running that you feel very passionate about?

Blog on..................

Rock day 4

So far this day of work has been somewhat uneventful.  Once we were sure we had all the meds and equipment we needed then it's been pretty much football, crocheting (I'm crocheting baby stuff for gifts) and eating.  I don't have any cashews or dark chocolate so I am feeling a little neglected.  

I was browsing running blogs and if you haven't stopped by this blog you should do it and pretty quick:

Shut up & Run

She has the most excellent sense of humor.  I've only been reading her for about a month and I love it! I have gathered some great ideas from her blog and enjoy her posts about running and life.  Plus she is closer to my age, which I have found is rare in the running blog world.  The "in my 40's but still a sexy bitch" time of life.  Today's post was about her trail run, classy paperboy and FWP..which are First World Problems.  

I actually found a website that has a bunch of FWP's listed and I couldn't stop browsing.  I'm sure this is some trend that has been going on that I have totally missed, I seem to always be a day late and a dollar short these last few years.  

This is from Pinterest and is a great example of real problems!  It is also the same example that I read this morning on Shut up and Run.



My favorite is the "trying to text at a red light" one.  I do that all the time.  I think I'm awesome for not texting while driving, but I figure if I'm stopped.......

Yeah.  That is the way my mind works.  That and I know I'm an awesome driver.    

Here is the best explanation found at this website:


Although I can't imagine there is such a thing as too much cheese?!?

I don't really have any FWP's today besides the fact I have no cashews or chocolate.   It's been a pretty easy going day.  Hopefully I will have a flight before too long.  Those always make me appreciate the day to day life.  Usually if I'm transporting or working then someone is having a very crappy day.  

After having made this blog a more running, frequently posted, hopefully informational at times place to share my stories, I have spent a lot of time reading blogs.  Blogs that are posting for a purpose besides just life can be pretty entertaining.  I know that a lot of blogs ask questions at the end of their post.  I've been considering doing that.  

What do you think??  <-----see?

Countdown to the Napa Ragnar!!  Next Thursday we leave for San Francisco and a visit to Trader Joes!  Here is our shirts, on the back we each have the name of a Zinfandel that has a funny name.  Mine is Beuhler.  Beuhler.  Beuhler.  

Have you ever ran a relay?

What is your favorite football watching snack?

Blog on...........

Giving it all up

I am trying to be a little more flexible with my schedule.  I enjoy picking up a little overtime here and there and sometimes I need to rearrange a few things.  


Saturday I am going with my husband, my friend Tera and her husband Jason to the Devil Dash race.  It's a 5K with 12 obstacles and a beer garden at the end.  It promises to be a blast, considering the company.  Sunday all four of us are hitting the East Canyon for another long hill run.  I love running with friends so my long run for Monday has to be rescheduled.  It was going to be for today, but as I mentioned in the last post I threw it to the side to take a transport for my work.  We transport cardiac devices and since I flew with AirMed as a cardiac device transport nurse before I joined them full time then they are kind enough to call me and give me an opportunity to take the flight.  


Yeah, it interferes with the long run I was going to do this morning, but I'll squeeze it in somewhere.  I don't regret it for a minute.  I love my job and I work with some great people.  It was a long complicated transport with a very sick patient, but we got that patient where they needed to be and we did it safely.  Every transport gives me the opportunity to learn something new and meet new people.  The facility we picked this patient up from last night was just awesome.  Even offered us snacks and drinks.  I'm sure we would have  taken them up on it if we thought we would have a second to even eat. 


I really do wish I could write more about my patients and the experience.  The laws of HIPPA are so strict and the last thing I want is to get called into my boss to talk about my running blog.  This patient was so very sick and was in a pretty good hospital, but that hospital didn't have the resources that a huge teaching hospital has.  The primary flight nurse was a guy that I worked in the SICU with, so I knew he was smart.  Together, along with the medic and respiratory therapist we still had a very high pucker factor.  Every movement had to be slow and organized.  There was at least 5 invasive devices/lines that if pulled out could have caused fatal consequences.  The feeling of handing the patient over to a well qualified team is amazing.  A final relaxation.   


I finally got to bed at 6am, which was 22 hours after I woke up the morning before.  I cancelled my barre class this morning and woke up at 4pm.  Right now I'm laying on the couch, blogging, eating dark chocolate, snuggling with my favorite blanket (woobie), watching TV and considering the odds that my bedtime is going to be early.  I'm also trying to hydrate.  I truly believe the answer to all physical ailments is hydration.  Especially if you work a job that interrupts sleep, is highly active or involves flying.  


Speaking of flying.  I spend a lot of time taking off, flying, landing.  I work with a small group of pilots that I respect immensely.  I have never been hardly even nervous with all the flying..until last night.  Don't get me wrong, best pilot ever!  But we do fly in airplanes that are meticulously maintained but are machines, none the less.  Last night on our final approach there was a light that didn't light up.  Meaning - the pilot wasn't sure that one of our landing gear was down and secure.  I heard, "oh that's not good", a request to the tower to fly past the airport to trouble shoot, then after about 1 minute he explained what was happening to the crew.  He was very calm and we were all very quiet.  One thing I've learned working as a flight nurse is that when things are tough you need to let the pilot do his job.  The pilot can flip a switch so he can't hear us, but they usually only do that when ton's of chaos is going on in the back and they are flying through some tough weather.  


So the plan was to fly past the tower so they could check our landing gear and make sure the light by the landing gear was on.  Apparently there is a light that comes on once the landing gear is down and ready to land.  It was the indicator light in the cockpit that wasn't lighting up.  That was a long 5 minutes.  I didn't know what to think about.  I wasn't scared as much nervous.  I knew that we could land either way it was just how well could we land.  Add that to the fact we had a patient that takes at least 7 people and 15 minutes to unload. The tower even offered to pull out the engines - get all the emergency peeps out and ready to foam us down and rescue us (DIRTY!).  Turns out the landing gear was down, locked and lighted up and we landed smooth as silk.  Ahhhhhh.   It was awesome.  No firemen though - dangit!!  The plane was taken out of service until it could be fixed, but we made it safe to the ground!  I work with some rock stars!


I don't like to leave without a picture - 

One of my favorites!

Blog on............

Tempo?

Today was my tempo run.  I set my alarm to get up and get it done before my shift started at 10am.  I work out of Rock Springs, which is about 2000 feet higher then Salt Lake.  I haven't run at the Rock for a while so my foot could rest after the cortisone shot.  This morning I got my ass kicked!  First I forgot my pre-run supplement (No-Xplode - sounds bad ass eh?)  but I slurped down a dark chocolate almond milk and went on my way.  

I must say it didn't turn out like I imagined in my head.  I felt tired.  Granted I planned a 1 mile uphill at about mile two, but I'm trying to overcome my hill weakness.  I was a little slow, but I managed through it with an average 10:13 min/mile.  Did I ever mention I'm a slow runner?  I did mention I walk every 5 minutes for a minute.  I can manage an under 9 min mile doing it this way but apparently not today.  I was very proud of my full 5 minutes of uphill with great form and even decent speed. 

Most of the time I feel like it takes me at least 1 mile to just warm up.

Mile 1: 10:08

Mile 2: 10:07

Mile 3: 10:05 (one mile hill!)

Mile 4: 9:55

Mile 5: 9:25

Total time 53:07, calories 584 (woot WOOT) 5.2 miles

My max speed was 7:26!  The weather was a little hot but not too bad, sunny and beautiful.  That is one of the great things I love about coming up here in the summer.  It's usually a little cooler.  

According to my training I've put together my tempo runs should be 9:22 min/miles.  Heat and higher altitude??  I should have been able to do better.  But at least I did it!  Isn't that the way we have to think some days??

I didn't forget to ice and BioFreeze the heel!  I did forget to take a picture of it.    

Post icing with my work socks and sweats.  My uniform is laid out carefully so I can get in it within seconds and be on our way.  My favorite Crystal Light in an icy bottle of water, watching "Something About Mary".  My job doesn't suck.  Keep in mind that we can fly almost 24 hours straight also.  It's slow right now, but we can get a call any minute day or night.

My medic is asleep right over there:

<---------------

Blog on.................

How Old??

Sphincter say what?  
That is my answer..it's very "Wayne's World" and definitely mature.  I don't mind birthdays and I don't mind getting older but I'm pretty sure I'm over it.  My 30th birthday was average, my 40th birthday kicked ass so I'm going to have to do something spectacular for my 50th.  Thankfully I still have a few years to plan out the entire three day festival. 


This year I had the privilege of being allowed/invited to run the Wasatch Back Ragnar and it landed on my birthday.  It seemed perfect.  What a better way to prove that age is just a number by running a relay race?  Even more awesomesauce was the fact that my second leg started right after midnight (on my birthday) and it was my hardest leg. Take that!  Mother Nature.  I'm super stoked about all the minds I picked at the race and ideas about running and running better.  I have a 5K next weekend and a half marathon in August, then I do the Napa Ragnar. 


I did spend some time this weekend just mulling things over.   So many inspirational people at these races and people that you hope you never become.  I think running may have become my midlife crisis.  Probably cheaper then a sports car, but not cheap - at least not for me.  (buying new running gear is the BEST)  But the past year has seen lots of great things happen.  I finally landed the job that I always dreamed of but never thought I'd be able to.  I've been running better then ever.  My health is good.  That whole breast biopsy thing was negative.  My kids are doing good and I can't complain about my marriage. My body is better then ever.


So how am I going to kick it this year?  Guess I'll keep on keeping on.  I have at least 6 months of races.   I definitely want to bust off this last 7.4 lbs that appears to linger right around muffin top status.  Guess I'll have to go for another long run to get some thinking done about that.  


I know that this next week I'm going to try and figure out how to post from my iPhone.  I take most of my pictures with the iPhone and then I think I'm going to post them and then i don't.  It's all so silly since we have the technology.    Matt gave me an awesome iPod Nano for my birthday.  I love love love it.  I've been looking at getting another one that is a bit easier to use and carry.  Although, all this technology - I think my iPhone and iPod are collaborating right now.  Take over the universe?  me?  Wipe out my pictures????  NOOOoooooo!!!

 Post 48th Birthday run.  I look just like my mom in this picture.  Can't wait to get these damn braces off either.  Still feeling Awesome!

Especially with Honey Bucket on our side.  It is amazing how clean they were able to keep them and how easily I can "take the browns to the Superbowl" in them.  Maybe I should get one for our house.  TMI?  ::::shrug::::

Cool instagram pic of my Nano.  Or is it a clock?  It's a clock on the Nano!!  Yes, it's almost 2am and I can't sleep.  I'm in Rock Springs and I'm off shift until 10am.  I should really sleep.  What I really wanted to do was take a picture of my iPhone and iPod discussing their plans for total world domination....but then, what would I take the picture with?  CURSES!!


Ragnar post pic to follow as is the Chicago/Radiohead extravaganza with Daniel.  


Blog on..................

Wow! Things have changed!

Yep, 7 months.  That is how long it's been since I blogged.  This was not my intention at all when I started this.  But alas, life is ever evolving and I lost track of it about 8 months ago.  My new AirMed job, kids, hubby and all of it combined and the blog went back to the end of the line.  I saved pics though.  Thought of it often for about 3 months.  Then a few days ago I checked it out and started reading.  What a shame I haven't kept it up.  I'm sure I'll post some back pictures over time, but there is no catching up.  It's my scrapbook and lord KNOWS I'm not going to do any actual scrap booking in this lifetime.  My last scrapbook session was 17 years ago and I'm going to set all records for not doing it ever again.  Maybe.  I'm a fickle bitch.  


Job - oh hell yes.  Best job ever.  Lots to learn and lots of adjusting but I'm starting to feel comfortable.  I work with awesome people and we are there to do a great job and have fun in between.  The drive to Rock Springs is getting easier every week and frankly it's a great gig!  (shhhhhh...others have hated going to Rock Springs and we don't want the secret out that it can be freakin AWESOME!)  It's a little intimidating having to be "ready" for any type of patient and all that death and dismemberment, but for the most part my years and years of working with smart people in the SICU have given me a base knowledge that has brought me through.  I'm in a plane.  A lot.  

 Our plane.  It's actually getting painting right now.  The Rocks Springs hanger is right behind it.  

 I have lots of these pics.  I see some beautiful country!

Flight nurse.  Teehee

We go to some tiny towns.  This was Chester, Montana.  Nicest people ever.  Great experience.

Sassy patient...or wait.   That's my medic.  He's trying out the stretcher on the way home.  

Kids.  Well I still have them.  They are doing awesome!  Austin is working back up in North Dakota after a short respite back home.  He seems to be liking it although I miss having him around.  

Austin at Sami's Birthday dinner.

Jake is doing wonderful.  He has a job working on motorcycles and his band is doing great.   They won the "City Weekly Band of the Year" and are working on another album and touring.  

 Amie came to the band's showcase.  

 Max Pain and the Groovies

Jake is right behind the lead singer on Bass

 Watching them play at the Garage.

Sami is working at the UofU as an HCA and going to college.  Growing pains?  Yes, she has a few.  Still a beautiful loving daughter and I will not kill her.  

No - Sami is not drinking.  Matt and I were having a celebratory shot after I passed my orientation at work and of course she thought it funny to pose by it.  Such a cute girl!

 Looking so adorable!

Daniel is doing wonderful.  He's not working right now, but he is has already graduated from High School via GED.  Busy playing the guitar and planning his life.

 Yeah, he takes my phone and takes pics of himself.

 Daniel and Ted.  

Daniel and his girlfriend Haley.  Cute couple - they've been together almost a year!

Hubby and I are working hard and doing great!  I spend a lot of time running. Lots and lots of running.  I do love it and hope it keeps me fit for a while!  

I am a lucky girl!

Blog on............