Happy Anniversary

Four years ago today I returned from serving as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I can't help but think of those times and what I learned.  A lot of people think it was really cool that I served in Germany and some look at me with compassion knowing the challenge it must of been.  I would have to agree...with both of those.  It was very cool.

  I mean, how could you not love exploring a new country where they have things like this:

GIANT chocolate covered pretzels

(sorry, I couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture)

or amazing beautiful buildings like these:

Everything about Germany was exciting, down to how they separated their trash for recycling.   It was cool.

But it was also hard.  It was hard to teach people about something so personal to me in a language I could barely understand let alone speak at first to people that didn't want anything to do with us. And on top of that, it was cold and rainy about 83% of the time, which is hard especially when your umbrella breaks.

I often felt like this at the end of every day:

But above being cool and despite being hard, serving as a missionary taught me valuable truths and gave me priceless experiences that are better than any piece of delicious European chocolate and worth any amount of hard work or heartache.

For example:

-learning to truly love an individual

-experiencing miracles

-discovering that God knows you, hears your prayers, and cares about you

-learning that it is possible to find joy in any situation

-feeling the joy in sharing the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ

-doing the impossible

-seeing how the Savior can change people's lives

Rounds

No, this post will not be about these kind of rounds:

nor these (although, I kind of really want one of these right now)

Instead I will be talking about medical rounds aka the really boring meetings I have to attend Tuesdays-Thursdays.  I had always wondered what rounds would be like.  I had always heard about doctors "making rounds" on patients and for whatever reason it sounded really cool and was excited when I found out part of my job included going to rounds 3 times a week!  As I have learned with other things in my life, my imagination is usually a bit more exciting than reality.  The rounds that I attend look pretty much like this:

The doctor sits at the head of the table and the various staff from each discipline report on how the patients are progressing. The MD gives the commands, tells people to hurry up if they are too slow and declares the discharge date.  

For my part I usually just say what diet the pt is getting and how much they are eating.  Every once in a while I will say a little more, but more often than not the nurse will actually say my part and I will mutter something like "no nutritional concerns." 

Today I had something important to say.  A pt was receiving an inappropriate diet for their condition.  I confirmed this with my co-workers and they agreed so I knew I could confidently go in there and make my professional and educated recommendation.  So, when my turn came I said, "doctor, this diet is not appropriate for the pt. I recommend this instead!" (in actuality I was a little nervous because I hate having all the attention on me and I said it  more like "Doctor, this diet is not appropriate for the pt. I recommend this") And then he said something unintelligible

(he has a thick accent and mumbles, which I'm not really sure anyone really understands him), but what I think he said was that he didn't really care what I said because he was right about the diet (although he actually wasn't).  It really was unfortunate (but a little funny, too) because part of me wanted to say something back but I couldn't because I didn't know exactly what he said!   So, I just pretended I understood and agreed. I then left early because I felt unappreciated as a professional, which was very liberating and the best part of the day. 

Weekend in a Nutshell

This weekend Wade and I went to Waynesville (for those of you unfamiliar with Waynesville, it is a small town in the mountains almost to Tennessee where Wade grew up).  I always forget to take my camera, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures.  But! Here are some of the highlights:

Wade's dad telling me that I was "full of crap" because my eyes are brown...I guess that's what "they" say about people with brown eyes.

Tea party with the nieces, Madelynn and Mackensey. It made my day to see all those mountain men drinking juice out of tiny tea cups with their pinkies out. (as that is the one and only way tea is to be drunk)

Hiking to the tiny old house where Wade's grandparents lived when they first got married-it was

 about 12ftx24ft and was WAY up on a mountain.  It was no easy hike. It's amazing how they ever lived there.

Hearing Granny's (Wade's grandmother) story about seeing the bobcat on her way back to the aforementioned house from getting groceries like it was no big thing.

Uncle Lonnie.  He talks so fast and his accent is so thick I have to have Wade translate for me.

Learning how to shoot a gun, thanks to Burl, Wade's dad.  (#1 rule: treat every gun as if it's loaded #2 make sure all the dogs are out of the way before you shoot...and that's it....haha)

Forgetting about the precious steaks in the car we brought from Raleigh for Wade's parents.  We ate them anyway.  What's that you say about food safety?  There are some things even I will eat in spite of potential risk. (so far we haven't gotten sick yet)

Sunday dinner: 2 pieces of chocolate pie and popcorn that we were supposed to give to the chicken's but decided was still good enough to eat.  Mmm mmm goood.

And that was my weekend in a nutshell.

Friday Morning Surprise

Today was a great day.  It's always a great day when I start it off with a run with a good friends.  Since I've been living in Fayetteville, I have only been running on a treadmill because I would probably lose my life if I went alone outside.  SO, I was so happy when my friend Anjuli was able to go with me today.

It was a warm, sunny February morning with a nice breeze.  PERFECT for running.  Along we were going having good conversation when all of a sudden a naked man ran across the trail.  A completely...naked...man.  First we were shocked, then we were afraid , and then it was hilarious.  Fortunately I didn't have my contacts in so I couldn't see anything, but from what I could tell he seemed pretty confused. I'm pretty sure the words,"how in the world did I end up naked in a park?" were going through his head.  I've been pondering all day how one could end up naked in a park without knowing why or how.  Baffling.

We didn't linger very long. Another passerby was calling the police so it seemed like it was getting taken care of, plus, seeing as he was a little unstable we weren't sure what he was going to do.  After our run we saw several police car and what looked like the naked man clothed in one of the cars.  I'm glad he was ok.  I mean, what an awful thing to happen, if you really think about.  But, maybe you shouldn't think about it too much.

Although I'm sure none of you will have more exciting stories than this this weekend, I hope you all have a nice weekend.

Sweet Potato Sydney

This is my niece, Sydney.  As of right now, she is my favorite little baby.  I just can't get enough of her, nor can the rest of my family.  It's kind of funny how happy she makes all of us.  If ever anyone in my family is down all we have to do is mention her name and we instantly smile.  Why is that? I mean, she's just a little baby that makes all kind of messes (see above).  I guess it's because she's just so dang cute about all of it.  You can't help but love her. I'm especially excited for this weekend because Kelley and Sydney are coming over on Friday and staying over until Saturday! Hooray!  

Happy weekend to all!