PRINTED my RSV poster

After 2 trips to Kinkos...my poster is complete and printed!! It is HUGE, I had no idea how big 36x48" is! It is HUGE!! I like it, we ended up having to change the background color of it because the one I had was extremely grainy. But I really like what we ended up with! I'm scared to take it out of the tube it's currently in, but after I present it on Tuesday I'll take a picture of myself with it and post it!! I'm really proud of it!!

Thanks again Brandi for all your help!!

Stand Up "Copy" [comedian]

Madison has discovered jokes this past week and has quite the comedy routine. Check out her as a "Stand Up Copy" as she calls herself!

*take note in her "banana" it is priceless how she says it!

Enjoy this beautiful sunny Saturday!

Big Girls & Little Girls

On Saturday, I watched the girls while Jaime got her haircut and Zackery worked.  I decided to head up to Marysville and hang out with Amy, Camryn & Jordyn for the morning!  This was the first time all 4 girls got together (okay granted the babies are almost 5mo & 2mo!).  So it was fun to watch them interact with each other (or just lay next to each other!). 

I think it’s really cool that both Camryn & Madison are close in age (6 months apart) have little sisters that are close in age too (Em 4mo & Jordyn 1mo)!  It should be fun to watch them grow up!

I took a handful of pictures with Amy’s camera, and she posted them on Facebook, so I stole then from there and now am posting them here!

The Big Girls (aka Camryn & Madison)

The Little Girls (aka Emmalee & Jordyn)  

Big & Little Sisters!

Scrapbooking Weekend

This weekend my parents were going to Olympia so I decided to have a Scrapbooking Weekend here! Brandi, Jaime & Erin all came over and we scrapped for 2 nights!! Sadly, we were a bit chatty and I only got 5 layouts done (10 pages). Brandi was a speedy and accomplished 15 pages I believe…what’s up with that? Jaime didn’t get much time to scrap because of Emmalee, but she did 4 pages too! Erin just hung out with us, she didn’t feel like scrapbooking this time! We had a lot of fun!

Waterfall: Madison playing in the fountain at my house
Summer 2007


Pool Fun: Madison swimming in her pool at Grandma’s House
Summer 2007

Pump It Up: Madison at Pump It Up!
~ 13 months old (2007)

Stars & Stripes: Madison & Alex doing Pop-It’s on 4th of July!
July 4, 2008

Train Ride: Erin, Jaime & I took Aiden, Connor, MacKenzie & Madison on a train ride through Snoqualmie!
October 2008

We also had Kennedy, Melissa & Angelique over Saturday afternoon to teach them how to scrapbook. For their birthday we gave them scrapbooks and invited them over for a 5 hours crop, teach them how to scrapbook and pizza!

Kennedy really got into scrapbooking and was a speed scrapper, accomplishing 15-8.5x8.5 layouts!! Melissa was slow and steady, got a bit distracted and I think she may have finished 2 layouts! Angelique was right between the other two and worked at a steady pace accomplishing several pages herself!

We had a lot of fun with them over, and took lots of pictures! Here are a handful of them!

I have a fun post for tomorrow night…so stay tuned!!

Met with my micro prof

Today I sat down to my micro professor to go over my grades and the chance I have of getting a B-. I was so nervous to sit down with him, he seemed so impersonal and mean, so I had no idea what to expect. But to my surprise he was super nice and very helpful and actually seemed like he cared.

He told me that exams are only 300/1000 points in the class, and to try and not worry to much about not doing well on the exams. I really just need to get an A+ on my RSV poster (which I feel positive about). I showed him my storyboard (rough draft) and he said it looked good, but a little busy. So I may need to make some changes, I'll see what happens when I get it back.

He also was concerned on why I am doing well in Lab (90% in that class), and yet I cannot seem to take the exams. We talked about how I study and prepare and then he told me to go talk to the Center For Learning to get help on preparing. He also said that many students who show the same trend, tend to have a Learning Disability with Test Anxiety. So he emailed the CFL and told them he was sending me over to talk.

I immediately went over and set-up an appointment with the Director and we're going to meet on Thursday to start looking over my exams, and figure out what techniques might work best for me. She'll help me prepare for my final in micro and then we'll meet during the summer to go over my results and try to make a plan for next year. She also broached the topic of a Learning Disability but said she wanted to try this plan first and see if I just don't know the best way for me to prepare and study for exams. If after the final I haven't seen much improvement she said we could discuss getting tested for a learning disability. So we'll see what happens!

I will meet with Dr. Wood again on Tuesday, he sent me home with some things to do this weekend to help me out. He said that he doesn't think I'll have a problem getting the B- I need to get into the nursing program, but I really need to work hard and also prove to him and Dr. Bishop that I know what I am doing. So we'll see how the final 3 weeks go!

In the meantime...IT'S MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND! Yay! And the weather is beautiful to boot! Double YAY YAY!!

RSV Poster Done!

Or at least I submitted my ‘rough draft’ which I believe is my final!  Let’s see what my Prof says I guess!!  I still have to actually make it and put it on poster board, however I’m gonna spend the money and have it professionally done by KINKOS for a better chance of winning ‘best poster in the class’ and getting 20 bonus points!  Here’s my poster, you won’t be able to read it, but you can at least look at the layout and get an idea of what it will look like!!  Oh and check out this post I made a couple of days ago about Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) to get a better idea of what this virus actually is!

 
*Please do not copy/plagiarize/or steal*
All my sources/pictures/information are properly cited

In case you were wondering the different sections include:

• The Microbe: Information on a cellular level & the history
• The Disease: Information about the disease (symptoms, duration, complications, etc.)
• Abstract: A  summery of the poster
• Epidemiology: How it spreads, where it lives between hosts, who’s at risk, etc
• Clinical Identification & Treatment: Just what it says…how it’s identified clinically and then the treatment for it.
• Social Implications & Current Research: Like it says!
• References: The references were HARD (thanks again Brandi for helping me do them!) and were VERY specific on how things had to be cited!  So this was a HUGE job!

Brandi really helped me with this project!!  She was over every night since Monday and worked until close to midnight with me each night…on top of that she had to be at work at 8:30am each day and work a full day!!  Thanks again Brandi for all your help!!

I’ll post a picture of it when it’s final and printed!! 

Hair Cuts by the Wicked Witch

Jaime & I went to get our haircuts today from a new lady.  We bought gift certificates from an auction we went to and were really excited to go!   We had been waiting over a month for our appointment.

However, the lady was NOT VERY NICE.  Jaime went in first and I got the girls out of the car and the lady about had a heart attack when she saw Madison.  Apparently her place isn't 'baby proofed' -  Madison is 3 years old...she can (for the most part control herself).  She made her sit in a chair the whole time and anytime she'd get up she'd tell her to sit back down.  Jaime & I just bit our tongues the whole time so we could just get through these haircuts and leave.  Madison did really well and just played with her IPod the whole time, so that was good and luckily Emma slept the whole time.  Let's just say we will not be going back.

However, despite her lack of people skills…she did a really good job on my hair and I am really happy with it!!  Jaime absolutely hates hers and will be going to Sorella's this weekend to get it fixed.  

Not a fantastic picture…I took it myself and thanks to Kelly, apparently I have a large nose :( *SIGH* she keeps telling me “small head, big nose”, sheesh that’s enough to give a girl  a complex!  Oh well…maybe if I didn’t take the picture on my phone it would have come out better, or maybe I do just have a big nose ;)

Happy Tuesday!

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Poster Project

My exam may be over, but I am now working on a HUGE poster project for my microbiology class!! Brandi has been helping me and we're making great progress on it!

I chose to do my poster on RSV which is a respiratory virus that primarily effects infants who are born prematurely and spend time in the NICU. I've been very interested in the virus since last year when I learned quite a bit about it while going with Kim to take the Triplets to get their Synagis (RSV vaccine) shots each month for 5 months. I thought I would share some facts with you that I found interesting...

• Those at Risk are primarily premature infants (born before 35 weeks gestation) and multiple births
• RSV Season is each year from November - April, when RSV is most prevalent
• Leading cause of respiratory infection & viral death in children under 5 years old
• There are more than 64 million infections and 160,000 deaths annually from RSV
• Most cases of RSV occur in children between 2-8months old
• Between 51,000 and 82,000 children are hospitalized each year from RSV
• There is no cure for RSV, but there is a vaccine that can be used, however only a select few meet the requirements for the vaccine

That is crazy that so many children are affected by RSV each year and yet, most people have never even heard of the disease. I hope that I am able to educate more people about RSV.

Studying Cori Style

Tomorrow is another fun exam in microbiology…yay!  So today I have been studying my butt off.  I keep seeing that B- in my head…I’ve worked so hard (again) I hope I get a great grade!  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to showcase my studying (aka memorizing) ability per hour.  I used to think “I cannot memorize things”, until I realized the trick for me to memorize…NOTECARDS.  For this exam I have approximately 225 note cards to memorize.  All with information that is pertinent (I hope).  Surprisingly it doesn’t take me that long to learn them.

I figured out in Anatomy & Physiology that if I lump the cards in groups of about 5 and learn those 5 at a time, and then continue adding to that pile I can memorize information really quickly.  There is no way I can memorize things directly out of a book there is just to much information which is extremely overwhelming.  But my brain can handle 5 cards at a time.  I then mix them up and study that way too. 

Oh I also talk out loud while I’m studying them.  I cannot just read and answer the note cards in my head, I have to answer the questions out loud.  So I’m sure tonight when I was studying outside people walking by probably thought I was some crazy lunatic who talks to herself….well if that’s what it takes then GREAT call me that!! 

Here are my ‘hour by hour’ study progress pictures!

Starting Point


1-hour in
*notecards on LEFT are what I memorized*
 

2-hours in
*notecards on LEFT are what I memorized*

3-hours in
*notecards on LEFT are what I memorized* 

You can also see the progression of where I studied – started inside on the table, moved outside, then into the family room and then concluded the evening in my room!  Oh…I also study in 1-hour increments.  I took a study skills class and they recommended it and it helps.  So after 1-hour, I get up take a little walk, get something to eat, take a shower, etc. for 10 minutes or so then back to work.  I find that I retain a lot more that way!

Okay…so now it’s really late, and in case you didn’t know, I HAVE A TEST TOMORROW!!  Plus, I still have some cards to memorize, but I can do that tomorrow!!  Off to sleep I go!  G’nite!

Brain Freeze...or Lack of Brain?

Ugh...I had a total brain fart tonight!! I was following Brandi to Monroe tonight and we were talking about going to the Mariners game tomorrow night. She then asked me "you know where the tickets are right". Of course I knew where they were, I'd been looking at them every single time I open my wallet for the past week and a half...happily sitting in their Ticket Master Envelope!! But I figured I should double check, so while driving in the dark and talking to Brandi I reach for my purse in the backseat and start going through my wallet (safe I know!). Which to my shock they weren't there!

I immediately tell Brandi I have to pull over and look for the tickets. So we both pull into a parking lot and start pulling my car apart. We spent a good 15 minutes looking and finally came to the realization they weren't there (that or it was way to dark to tell). I decide to call The Mariners Team Store in Bell Square and hope they are open (it is 9:50pm) to see if they can re-issue my tickets. Thankfully they were open (soooo lucky), and they said they couldn't re-issue the tickets, but I could do it at Safeco Field. So I decided I would just do that if I had too. So we started back towards Monroe.

Driving home I decide to give Jaime a call to make sure I hadn't given her the tickets (I hadn't), so I decided "oh well, we'll just get them tomorrow before the game". We made it to the Condo and Brandi & I once again pull my car apart (this time cleaning it out too...see I had a plan haha) and still no tickets. So as we're walking inside, Brandi tells me "just call your house and double check they aren't there". She had already told me to do it once, but I KNEW they WERE NOT THERE. But I had no other choice, and figured I had nothing to lose (except for her to be right). So I called home.

Alex answered and before I had even spit out my whole "will you see if you can find my Mariners tickets". Alex said, "you mean these tickets sitting right here?". Ugh...I vaguely remember setting them on the desk by the front door. Apparently I decided the tickets were safer inside (why on the desk, to be lost I have no clue) and brought them in. Overall I have NO recollection of doing so, but apparently I did.

I am totally losing it! But on the bright side I have the tickets! It will make for a far less stressful day tomorrow!

Met with my nursing advisor today…

Today I met with my nursing advisor for a quarterly check-up.  I asked what the chance was that I would get in being #1 on the waiting list.  Her response was "I'd be very shocked if you didn't get in"!  She seemed very sure, but said it could be a long wait still before I know.  She said most likely at this case, I'd get in when a Transfer Student dropped out.  Transfer students are most likely to drop out because they realize how expensive SPU is and/or they get accepted somewhere else and choose to go there.

There was one thing I learned that worried me, I thought I just had to get a C in microbiology and be fine, however I must get a B- in order to keep a 2.75 gpa in my nursing pre-reqs.  I just got my first exam back and failed it...which really saddened me because I was so ready and certain I had done well on the exam.  She assured me it would be okay and recommended I get a tutor from the Center For Learning on campus and to make an appointment with my Professor and talk about things.  I immediately left the appointment and headed to the CFL and then to email my Prof!

Luckily the exam was just the first one and we still have 3 exams (all worth 100pts each) and a huge poster project that is worth 120points.  Plus other miscellaneous points available in smaller amounts.  So it still is very plausible I just have to do it.

I also learned that I most likely won't be able to go on the cruise...that deeply saddens me.  I'm really bummed, but this is more important and I hope my parents take me on a cruise when I graduate!  Who knows maybe Grandma will want to!!  I will talk again with the Nursing Staff once I get in and talk about it again with more details and information.   So I guess there's a small chance but very little.  Oh well...this is my future, and I need to just do it and get it over with!

Tour Northwest....and 200th Post!

Today I went with Jaime and the girls went on quite a tour of the Pacific Northwest!

It all started with a trip to the Tacoma Mall to meet a lady that I was buying a Barbie Car for Madison from. Neither of us had ever been to the Tacoma Mall, but printed off pretty direct directions and figured we would be fine...well we weren't. We ended up touring Tacoma for about 45minutes before finally finding it after calling to get better directions and then asking someone else for better directions. Boy were we happy to finally find Krispy Kreme where we were meeting the lady!!

After that we headed to Southcenter Mall to go to ToysRUs because the Barbie Car needed a new battery, we quickly found it, purchased it and left. We then headed to BabiesRUs so Jaime could get a few items for the baby. As we were leaving we accidentally turned onto I-5 instead of 405 so we decided to just head home via Seattle, figuring traffic would be about the same either way.

On the way through Seattle Jaime mentioned she wanted to check out this kids consignment store that many people had been raving about. It turned out it was really icky, cramped full of junk and on top of that very expensive. Needless to say we didn't stay long.

I had purchased a FUN game for Madison, HISSS, which is a great matching color game for toddlers/preschoolers. I played it last week when I was babysitting for Nathan Smith and was really impressed by (HIGHLY recommend it!). Anyway, it had finally arrived at my house after ordering it last week, so we swung by Duvall to pick it up before heading back to Monroe.

After all that was done and we circled the Pacific Northwest, we drove 160 miles and spent more than 3 hours in the car. Granted we had several stops throughout the day to get out and wander around, but still that's a lot of driving!!

The whole day started out with a really good deal on the Barbie Car ($30), but Jaime just told me we bought the wrong battery (after having a TRU worker double check for me) and it won't work! So I guess it'll be back to Toys R Us for me soon...UGH!

This is also my 200th POST! I cannot believe it, and in a little more than month I'll have been blogging for an entire year!! It'll be cool to see how many posts I can write before the blogs anniversary of July 5th!

Happy Mothers Day!!

Today we had beautiful weather to celebrate Mothers Day!!  My dad made Belgium Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream – yum!!  We had 4 mom’s attend our brunch, my mom, grandma, Aunt Sue and Jaime!!

I got my mom 2 really beautiful planter box ornament things (hard to explain), but basically a pretty butterfly with a glass orb (Brandi’s wording…not so sure about that word!  ORB=ball) that glows in the dark!!  It looks really nice in her planter boxes!! 

Emmalee & Madison also got the “grandma’s” (Grandma, my mom and Sue) stepping stones with Madison’s handprint and Emma’s footprint in them!  Madison then decorated them with marbles and mosaic tiles.  Hands down those were the best gifts…think even my mom liked hers more then my gift!!  She even requested another one each year…hmmm!!  I feel replaced!!

The Moms
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While everyone was finishing up brunch, Emmalee started to get fussy, so I took her outside to the swing.  Once outside and swinging she got very happy and giggly, so I grabbed the camera to take a couple of pictures!

Alex then decided to jump into the picture!

We went to Molbaks Nursery after brunch to look and buy flowers!  We used to go to Molbak’s every Mothers Day when I was little, so it was fun to re-new the tradition!  Kelly & I used to walk up and down the rows of flowers picking the flowers that had fallen on the ground and being so proud of our findings!  Sophia went along with us, and had fun with Madison.  Don’t Madison & Sophie look like they are sisters??

After everyone headed home, Brandi & I played two games of Phase 10, where we both won one game.  We should have played a rubber-neck game but we didn’t and went on to play The Game of Life: Twists & Turns.  This is a spin off of the original Game of Life, but now is electronic!!  You get to set how many ‘years’ you will play, and Brandi kept adding more and more ‘years’ onto the game when I wasn’t looking!!  I finally caught her and put a stop to it!!  She went on to win…ugh, I lost bad!!  Oh well, I will win next time!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Mothers Day, I know I did!  I believe I have the WORLDS GREATEST MOM and love her so very much!! 

Let Them Eat Cake & Split Ward

Yesterday afternoon we celebrated the triplets 2nd birthday!  It was a small party, their extended family and a handful of close friends.  The weather held out and we hung out on the patio by the pool!!  The kids did really well and played hard!  In typical Jack fashion, he freaked out while we sang Happy Birthday and they blew out their candle.  But as soon as the paparazzi left him alone he happily ate cake! 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

These two pictures I thought were toooo cute!!  Jack & Nate playing in the playhouse!  They look just so happy, so I had to throw them in!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Split Ward

Last night there was a special fireside where the Stake Presidency announced the splitting of the Duvall & Carnation Wards to form a third ward…the Big Rock Ward.  The new boundary lines fall right along the Stillwater Elementary boundary lines and along 150th.  We ‘lost’ a lot of awesome families (May’s, Cattin’s, Bye’s and Smith’s who have been in our Ward for years!  Plus many more who I missed) into the new Big Rock Ward.  It is very sad, but hopefully in the end it will be worth it and for the best! 

The ‘old’ Duvall Ward had 500 members in it and 200 primary kids.  They pretty evenly split the wards and the ‘new’ Duvall Ward has about 300 families and 120 primary kids.  Alex is really bummed because Gwenaelle & Brooke are both in the Big Rock Ward.  We (Duvall Ward) now will meet in the Union Hill Building, with the Big Rock Ward meeting in the Carnation Building.  Majority of Duvall Ward members kept their callings, but I’m sure lots of changes will occur this Sunday.  We kept Bishop Lee and the new Big Rock Bishop, is Bob Richey! 

It has been really interesting to see (read) people’s thoughts and opinions to the changes.  Reading people’s statuses on Facebook and comments/posts on the Sisters Of Duvall site has been interesting.  As hard as it is to split, we all knew it was coming and this is SOOOO much easier then when we split from Redmond where for the most part we never saw people again.  We will see these people all the time, they still are our neighbors and friends.

Sunday should be really interesting!

Movin' On Up -- part IV

I just got an email that I am now #1 on the SPU nursing wait list!! I got to admit, I am now a bit freaked out that I won't get in. It will really stink if I don't get in and am #1 on the wait list. Not much I can do about it, I just have to focus on my final class (Microbiology) and hope & pray that I get in.

Previous Movin' On Up Posts....
April 9th -- Movin' On Up to spot #6
April 15th -- Movin' On Up -- part II to spot #5
April 29th -- Movin' On Up -- part III to spot #4

Please help me hope, pray and keep my fingers (& toes) crossed!

The ZOO Crew

Friday was a beautiful day, so Jaime & I ventured to the Woodland Park Zoo for a fun day with the kids.  We had a great time, actually saw some animals (normally we show up eat and then have to go), I got a lot of exercise pushing the triple jogger and  did I mention the weather was gorgeous?!   All the kids did really well (thanks in part to the snacks we were stuffing them with!) and they too seemed to enjoy the zoo! 

Seeing Animals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

Everyone was really excited to ride on the carousel, until we got on it.  Gabbi was willing to ride on a horse with Madison & Jaime and I took the boys to sit in the ‘sleigh’.  Jack didn’t like it at all, so I couldn’t get ever good shots of them.  But I tried…

                         Riding the Carousel


My attempt at a photo of me and the boys!