"...the sweet sounds of techno."

Today I went on a beautiful hike with one of my dear friends from home, and besides the naked guy that we saw talking a casual stroll along the beach, we had fun hiking the hills of Santa Barbara County. At the top of the hill that we climbed, there was a breath-taking view of the ocean and surrounding countryside; but the second best event at the top was when we read the log book.
The purpose of a log book is to mark your accomplishment in writing so that those who follow can read the names and follow suit. This log book contained some short stories, rants about how tired some were, a few scattered profanities, and tales of triumph. Our favorite entry began like this: "So today I awoke to the sweet sounds of techno and took many shots of vodka." -sounds like the start to an awesome day- and it ended like so: "Long, arduous adventure, but it is not quite done, as we are about to smoke some plants atop this beautiful mountain. woo-ee-woo-ee." I think every hiker in the Western United States heard my laugh at the conclusion of that entry. Although my day did not begin with the "sweet sounds of techno," or end with "smoking some plants," it was still a great day with my friend. :)

SO THANKFUL!

About this time last year, I went through a phase of being thankful all the time. I think it started when I took a roadtrip to the Grand Canyon with some dear friends of mine; even as we were huffing and puffing up the 3miles we had hiked into the canyon, all I could say was, "I'm SO THANKFUL!!" It got to the point where it was almost a joke amongst my friends and I; but I was truly aware of all of the blessings that God had poured out in my life.
As the season of Thanksgiving is once again upon us, I am reminded that we are not called to be thankful only when Hallmark deems it necessary out of obligation to a holiday that is frequently marked by overeating and football. God calls us to be thankful at all times, and in any circumstance. One of my favorite verses right now is the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter five verses 16-18:
"Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

God's will for us is to be thankful, and not just in November, but in ALL circumstances. And with that thanksgiving comes joy, and the outpouring of your thanks in dialouge with God. It just makes me smile to know that letting my joy and thanksgivng overflow is making God smile in return.

Happy Thanksgiving.

p.s. I tried to delete one picture, but couldn't figure it out

p.p.s. that is apple cider I am drinking :)

Not quite like "Grey's Anatomy"

This past Thursday, instead of doing my regular rotation on the med-surg floor, I went to the OR to observe. Yes, OR does stand for the operating room; and yes, I was very excited. My fellow nursing students and I cautiously opened the door and entered into the completely unknown world that is the OR. It was somewhat like finding an entrance to a magical world through many fur coats in the back of an ancient wardrobe. Only there were no lions, fawns or white witches; just surgeons, nurses, and big pieces of equipment. And I could have actually used a fur coat because the average temperature in that place was 68 degrees!

I was introduced to a nurse who had the commanding presence of a surgeon, and following her into OR #1, I was briefed on the surgery and procedure that I was going to see in a few minutes. It was a total knee replacement on an older woman, and the doctor was going to put in a prosthetic knee. Did you know that putting in a prosthetic knee involves using saws to shave off a lot of bone? Yeah, me neither. But, it does and I loved it!!! I was standing right by the bedside, watching the surgeon expertly shave off bone, fit the prosthetic, and suture the patient together. I never felt like I was going to faint!!! YAY!!!

Surgery is an amazing thing. Doctors can cut you open and remove, replace, and add parts from/to your body while you are in a deep sleep trusting an anesthesiologist to bring you out of your slumber. God created us with very complex bodies, and these individuals have committed their lives to study its mysteries. I do not think I will enter surgical nursing anytime soon, just because the patient is out of it for most of the time you are with them; but I could definitely see myself having a blast there sometime in the future.

Holiday Spirit

I have this thing for Christmas, meaning: I absolutely love it. All year long I think of cute decorating ideas for my dorm and dream of ways that I can help bring the holiday spirit to my friends and I, whether it be through cookie baking, looking at Christmas lights, or going out for hot chocolate. Currently, all of my dorm decorations are tucked away in an Adidas shoe box that is perched on top of my wardrobe and my roommate has already called me a "Christmas freak," or something like that. I was too busy cutting Christmas pictures out of a Pottery Barn catalouge to pay much attention to what she was saying.

There are two reasons I love Christmas. One, the birth of my Soverign Lord, Jesus Christ, is celebrated during this season. Do you realize what the birth of Jesus means? It means that God loved us so much, that he sent his son as a sacrifice so that we could be forgiven of our sins. I, E., am forgiven of all of my sins. That is a lot. Just ask my mom- she even has a few of those sins on home video. Not only that, but God forgave you of all of your sins. And the sins of your parents, and your boss, and the woman who made your Starbucks this morning, and the Prime Minister of France. I hope you get the idea.

Secondly, Christmas has always been a joyful time in my household. My mom is the queen of Christmas decorations. Everything that we have hanging on our walls throughout the year comes down, and some sort of Christmas decoration takes its place for the next month. It is glorious. I went through this stage in my life when I thought the decor was so tacky and our house should look more like a Martha Stewart magazine. I quickly got over that (especially when Martha went to jail...that jaded my view of the domestic goddess), and in 20 years, my children will probably be saying the same thing to me. My mom also made sure that we felt special at Christmas. She bought us the advent calendars, made us hot chocolate with sprinkles on the whip cream, and had a magical set up when we stumbled down the hallway Christmas morning. It did not matter how much (or how little) our family had to spend, we would always be so thankful for what "Santa" had brought. I don't mean to leave my dad out of this; we could always rely on him to bring the tree in from the top of the car and have it sparkling with Christmas lights the next morning when we woke up. My parents love us, and they love Jesus, and so we just all love Christmas too; it works out rather nicely.

Now, I know its only the beginning of November and I do not mean to overshadow Thanksgiving and that whole "being thankful" thing, but I am also thankful at Christmas, so I think that perhaps the Christmas season should just begin in November and we can celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving together throughout the entire month of November AND December. Sort of killing two birds with one stone, right? Just consider it.