Winter Really Isn't Kidding

Wow is all I have to say. Last weekend and this weekend we have had two huge snowstorms. Last week we got seven inches in the valley and it seemed that this week it was trying to impress us by dumping more. Well nothing too exciting is happening around here, my dance classes are getting ready for the dance concert happening next week and I've been getting prepared for that. I'm very excited for Rachel and Logan to come to Utah on Tuesday! They get to stay for a little over a week and I'm so excited to see them!
Last Thursday I had the opportunity to shadow a nurse for a few hours. It was so interesting! The first hour I sat at a desk and talked to some of the nurses working in the ICU. I learned how to read the heart monitors they attach to you and was able to ask them lots of questions on education, what they liked and didn't like and just generally got to see what it was like to work there.
Then, for the next three hours I had the chance to shadow a nurse named Valerie. She was taking care of three or four patients that she kept visiting to check on and make sure they were ok and every so often to check their vitals. I learned so much about the work and what is required and she even let me do some stuff on my own. I got to see all the new equipment and meet lots of fun people. I was free to ask any questions that I had and at first I was kinda quiet and didn't say much, I just watched. Then after a bit I got more comfortable and began to open up and talk to the patients and to Val. I was happy to see that the blood didn't bother me, because this was my main concern. I had not ever had to deal with much of it so I was not sure I had the stomach for it. Now I am almost certain that I would like to go into nursing and premed, but I am still going to pray about it and make sure it really is right.
My original plan for shadowing a nurse was to see if I liked it, but I also wanted to see how I could incorporate American Sign Language into my work field. The first nurse I was with, her name was Marissa too, said that the first person she was with on her first day was Deaf and it would have helped a lot to have known some Sign Language so that she could communicate. He had to write everything down and when you are scared about coming to the hospital it makes it that much more difficult to write everything down and think about what you are saying.
Friday night I got to hang out with one of the girls that I met on Silent Weekend. Her name is Laura and she is profoundly Deaf. She has a cochlear implant that she got last March and wears a hearing aid in her other ear. We had a lot of fun and she was a funny girl. We had to sign while we talked and it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. I love signing and have improved my skills a lot in the last two weeks. I prepared for Silent Weekend by thinking in my head of how to sign certain things so that I could when the time arose. Then this last week I have been talking to my friend Heather and signing non stop in class and when we hang out. I am so excited because I can understand full stories when they are said to me and I can also tell an entire experience in sign.
Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Salt Lake Temple for the second time and it was an amazing experience. After battling the horrific snow storm to get there safely and almost not going at all, I was happy that I got to go. I went with my normal group, but I was the only one that had ever been before. I had only been once and I wasn't sure what all the protocol was so it was interesting to do things so differently from the normal Jordan River Temple. It was fascinating and I loved that experience.
Last night Shanda and I went to see Enchanted and we wore big poofy formals. It was so much fun and we got so many funny looks. The movie was hilarious and we were laughing a lot. As we were walking out for some reason all the workers were lined up along both sides of the path leading out the door. Since we had seen a late movie, we were the only ones leaving and all of the workers that had been talking just stopped and stared. I couldn't help it but I started to giggle about halfway down because it was so quiet and so funny. I got to the door and said, 'it's like walking down the red carpet.' Then turned around and looked down and said, "except this one is blue." It was the funniest part of the night.
Today I went to a missionary farewell for a good friend of mine Jon Thomas who is going to the Paraguay mission. There were lots of Riverton friends and it was so much fun to visit and see them all.