It was raining this morning when we woke up so we were bummed. We wanted to watch the changing of the guards at the Buckingham Palace, but it might get canceled when it rained. Luckily, the weather turned. It was really nice around 10:30 am so we were able to see the show. It was pretty cool...there were tons of people there and I thought it was just neat to see the red uniforms with the black fuzzy hats. :)
Afterwards, we went to the British Museum. it was huge! We only had 2 hours to spend so we didn't get to read all the facts, but it was amazing to see all the artifacts they had! It was filled with tons of things. One of my favorites was seeing a Japanese samurai outfit.
From there, we wandered to St. Paul's cathedral. We weren't able to tour inside because they had closed but it was beautiful. After taking a few pictures, we walked over to the Museum of London. Here, we learned a bit about the history of London. It was pretty interesting.
By the end of the day, our feet were killing us! We had basically walked all of London the past 4 days. So, we went and grabbed dinner at China town again; then made our way home to relax.
Anyway, tomorrow we're off to Paris. That will be quite the adventure since we don't speak the language and our hotel is not right next to a metro station....but it'll be tons of fun. I'm really excited.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
London Day 3
Since today was Sunday, we went to church this morning. It was hard staying awake for all three hours..but church was good. It's always good to be able to learn more about the gospel. :) Also, the ward itself was pretty interesting....the ward we went to was in Hyde Park. I guess it's a pretty popular ward for visitors. In fact, we learned that during the summer, about 2/3 of the congregation are visitors. As a result, the official ward members are really used to visitors and they're used to not introducing visitors at church...it would take too long. :)
Anyway, after church, Sister Larson was kind enough to invite us to have "dinner" with them. We thought this would be around 6 pm but soon found out that she meant lunch. So, we had to adjust our plan to go to the British Museum. It closed at 5:30 pm today so we would visit it tomorrow. We just thought it was funny since dinner was really lunch. I wonder why some people refer to lunch as dinner?? I've heard it a few other times before...like once or twice.
After "dinner", we went to the Tower of London and saw the crown jewels. Of course, pictures were not allowed. The jewels were really cool!! In fact, they were all in a huge "bunker" (AKA Safe). When we went into the room to see the jewels, you could just feel the security surrounding them. The metal doors were HUGE! After seeing the jewels, we wondered around the area and also got to walk along the tower bridge. It was really pretty and the weather was perfect!
Then, we rushed off to the Westminster Abbey to see the free organ recital. Sister Larsen had mentioned that they wouldn't let anyone in after it started so I started to get worried when we almost got lost. It took awhile to find the entrance to the tube. But we arrived at the Abbey and the Guard let us in. I guess you have to specifically say you're there for the concert or else they won't let you in. Anyway, the guy who played the organ was really good! He played for about 40 minutes and the best part was we got to see what the inside of the abbey looked like without paying. :) YIPPEE!! It was really beautiful! I wish we could have taken pictures, but again, no pictures allowed.
When the recital was done, we wondered down to China Town for dinner. Yes, we were in England hunting down some good Chinese food! Well, I guess more like good Asian food. We ended up eating some Japanese food. We hadn't eaten that for a while so it was YUMMY! :) China Town was pretty cool too. I wish Minnesota had a China Town too. Then we slowly wondered around and then took the tube back to our "home".
Anyway, that's basically all I have to say about today..and since Andy is too lazy to write on his own blog, he would like to add three things:
1. Movie tickets are EXPENSIVE! They cost 11 - 25 pounds, which is 22-50 dollars per person! CRAZY! Definitely can't complain about the prices in the states.
2. Burger King is too expensive to eat here. Not that we ever eat at Burger King anyways... but the burgers cost 4 - 5 pounds, which is 8-10 dollars.
3. Lack of customer service. Everytime we eat in a restaurant, you have to ask 5 times for the bill. Or you could just get up to leave. Customer service is not a priority and that is why you don't tip here.
Anyway, after church, Sister Larson was kind enough to invite us to have "dinner" with them. We thought this would be around 6 pm but soon found out that she meant lunch. So, we had to adjust our plan to go to the British Museum. It closed at 5:30 pm today so we would visit it tomorrow. We just thought it was funny since dinner was really lunch. I wonder why some people refer to lunch as dinner?? I've heard it a few other times before...like once or twice.
After "dinner", we went to the Tower of London and saw the crown jewels. Of course, pictures were not allowed. The jewels were really cool!! In fact, they were all in a huge "bunker" (AKA Safe). When we went into the room to see the jewels, you could just feel the security surrounding them. The metal doors were HUGE! After seeing the jewels, we wondered around the area and also got to walk along the tower bridge. It was really pretty and the weather was perfect!
Then, we rushed off to the Westminster Abbey to see the free organ recital. Sister Larsen had mentioned that they wouldn't let anyone in after it started so I started to get worried when we almost got lost. It took awhile to find the entrance to the tube. But we arrived at the Abbey and the Guard let us in. I guess you have to specifically say you're there for the concert or else they won't let you in. Anyway, the guy who played the organ was really good! He played for about 40 minutes and the best part was we got to see what the inside of the abbey looked like without paying. :) YIPPEE!! It was really beautiful! I wish we could have taken pictures, but again, no pictures allowed.
When the recital was done, we wondered down to China Town for dinner. Yes, we were in England hunting down some good Chinese food! Well, I guess more like good Asian food. We ended up eating some Japanese food. We hadn't eaten that for a while so it was YUMMY! :) China Town was pretty cool too. I wish Minnesota had a China Town too. Then we slowly wondered around and then took the tube back to our "home".
Anyway, that's basically all I have to say about today..and since Andy is too lazy to write on his own blog, he would like to add three things:
1. Movie tickets are EXPENSIVE! They cost 11 - 25 pounds, which is 22-50 dollars per person! CRAZY! Definitely can't complain about the prices in the states.
2. Burger King is too expensive to eat here. Not that we ever eat at Burger King anyways... but the burgers cost 4 - 5 pounds, which is 8-10 dollars.
3. Lack of customer service. Everytime we eat in a restaurant, you have to ask 5 times for the bill. Or you could just get up to leave. Customer service is not a priority and that is why you don't tip here.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
London Day 2
After a great night sleep, we had another day full of adventure! Here's a recap of what we did:
Buckingham Palace:
This morning we went to tour Buckingham Palace. We had wanted to see the changing of the guards, but with the tour, we would have missed it. So, we'll have to do that on Monday. Anyway, the palace was really pretty! I can't imagine living in such a big place by myself. Plus, it was definitely way too fancy for me. I really enjoyed it though..plus, they even had a room that showed Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress and all kinds of wedding jewelry. It was really pretty! Everything looked soo expensive. The room was also really crowded and I wished they had some sort of crowd control for the room but at least we got to see everything. It also probably didn't help that someone fainted in the room. We had to avoid half of the room for a while so the medics could help the person. I think the person was okay though so that was good. During the tour, you're not allowed to take pictures until you are outside in the garden area....that was at the very end of the tour. The area was huge and pretty. I'm glad I don't need to be a ground keeper for them though, it would take FOREVER!
Houses of Parliament:
After Buckingham Palace, we grabbed a hotdog and rushed off to Parliament. Again, we weren't allowed to take pictures. But, the building was gorgeous! The chamber area for the house of the lordes area seemed to be more glorious then the Buckingham Palace. In fact, it use to be a palace too. Anyway, there was a lot more detailing and the ceilings were a lot higher...not sure how to explain it but that's how I felt. The house of commons area was more plain. The tour was really interesting though and it was fun to learn about how the government worked.
These are the 2 big tours we did. After we were done, we walked around the river area and saw lots of fun little things. It was fun to be a part of the culture in London. We also visited the Imperial War museum really quick before we met up with our friend Rebecca for dinner. We ate at some indian restaurant on a street called Brick Lane...it's suppose to be a really popular place to eat and we soon found out why. It was ftons of fun because every restaurant tried to recruit customers by offering all sorts of discounts. Our friend told us that the very first ones aren't very good and the ones further down the street were better. So, after we got to a place that she knew was good, the guy offered us a 25% discount, free drinks, and a free appetizer. Our friend was smart enough to make sure the drinks could include the smoothie. YUMMY! Too bad they don't do this in the states. :)
Anyway, that's basically it for today. We've done a lot of walking the past 2 days and my feet are tired, but we're having a blast!! I'll have to post pics later. :)
Buckingham Palace:
This morning we went to tour Buckingham Palace. We had wanted to see the changing of the guards, but with the tour, we would have missed it. So, we'll have to do that on Monday. Anyway, the palace was really pretty! I can't imagine living in such a big place by myself. Plus, it was definitely way too fancy for me. I really enjoyed it though..plus, they even had a room that showed Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress and all kinds of wedding jewelry. It was really pretty! Everything looked soo expensive. The room was also really crowded and I wished they had some sort of crowd control for the room but at least we got to see everything. It also probably didn't help that someone fainted in the room. We had to avoid half of the room for a while so the medics could help the person. I think the person was okay though so that was good. During the tour, you're not allowed to take pictures until you are outside in the garden area....that was at the very end of the tour. The area was huge and pretty. I'm glad I don't need to be a ground keeper for them though, it would take FOREVER!
Houses of Parliament:
After Buckingham Palace, we grabbed a hotdog and rushed off to Parliament. Again, we weren't allowed to take pictures. But, the building was gorgeous! The chamber area for the house of the lordes area seemed to be more glorious then the Buckingham Palace. In fact, it use to be a palace too. Anyway, there was a lot more detailing and the ceilings were a lot higher...not sure how to explain it but that's how I felt. The house of commons area was more plain. The tour was really interesting though and it was fun to learn about how the government worked.
These are the 2 big tours we did. After we were done, we walked around the river area and saw lots of fun little things. It was fun to be a part of the culture in London. We also visited the Imperial War museum really quick before we met up with our friend Rebecca for dinner. We ate at some indian restaurant on a street called Brick Lane...it's suppose to be a really popular place to eat and we soon found out why. It was ftons of fun because every restaurant tried to recruit customers by offering all sorts of discounts. Our friend told us that the very first ones aren't very good and the ones further down the street were better. So, after we got to a place that she knew was good, the guy offered us a 25% discount, free drinks, and a free appetizer. Our friend was smart enough to make sure the drinks could include the smoothie. YUMMY! Too bad they don't do this in the states. :)
Anyway, that's basically it for today. We've done a lot of walking the past 2 days and my feet are tired, but we're having a blast!! I'll have to post pics later. :)
London Day 1
So, after traveling all night, we finally arrived in London at 10 am. We were about an hour late due to terrible weather at the Minneapolis airport, but at least we're here. :) It was fun walking through the airport and knowing that we were IN LONDON!! I have always wanted to visit London and I'm so excited that we're here!
We're staying with a friends sister and brother in law who live in London. We're so grateful that we could have someone to stay with. Hotels in London are really expensive! Anyway, they live really close to the tube so it's really easy to get around.
Anyway, we dropped off our stuff and chatted for a while and then we were off to explore. We didn't have anything specific planned so we just walked around the city to familiarize ourselves with the place. London is sooo beautiful!! Since we were going to do the actual tour of Buckingham Palace and the House of Parliament the next day, we just walked around and took pictures. It was really cool to see everything!
We also walked through Queen Mary Gardens, Regent's Park, and Trafalgar Sqaure. Trafalgar Square was really neat. There were lots of people! Also, there was this statue with some HUGE lion statues around it. I wanted to take a picture right by the Lion but it was too high for me...well, not really, but it was scary to get up that high. Anyway, the one little adventure we had was taking a small buggy bike ride....basically, a person rides a bike and there's a small carraige thing that's attached to the bike. It was fun!
Well, I think that's about it...we were really tired by the end of the day since we hadn't really slept the past 24 hours..so we just went home after dinner and crashed. In fact, we almost fell asleep on the subway. I was afraid we would miss our stop, but we didn't...we made it home safely. :)
We're staying with a friends sister and brother in law who live in London. We're so grateful that we could have someone to stay with. Hotels in London are really expensive! Anyway, they live really close to the tube so it's really easy to get around.
Anyway, we dropped off our stuff and chatted for a while and then we were off to explore. We didn't have anything specific planned so we just walked around the city to familiarize ourselves with the place. London is sooo beautiful!! Since we were going to do the actual tour of Buckingham Palace and the House of Parliament the next day, we just walked around and took pictures. It was really cool to see everything!
We also walked through Queen Mary Gardens, Regent's Park, and Trafalgar Sqaure. Trafalgar Square was really neat. There were lots of people! Also, there was this statue with some HUGE lion statues around it. I wanted to take a picture right by the Lion but it was too high for me...well, not really, but it was scary to get up that high. Anyway, the one little adventure we had was taking a small buggy bike ride....basically, a person rides a bike and there's a small carraige thing that's attached to the bike. It was fun!
Well, I think that's about it...we were really tired by the end of the day since we hadn't really slept the past 24 hours..so we just went home after dinner and crashed. In fact, we almost fell asleep on the subway. I was afraid we would miss our stop, but we didn't...we made it home safely. :)
Sunday, September 16, 2007
True Love??
Today in Relief Society, while we were talking about the Law of Chasity we started discussing what it meant to really love some one. To truly love some one involves commitment, sacrifice, selflessness, trust, and several other things. I'm really glad that we talked about this today because as I think about the things we discussed, it makes me love my husband even more. I appreciate everything he does for me and all the sacrifices he has made to be with me. Things weren't easy to begin with, but we endured and now everything is okay... :) Of course, no marriage is perfect and there are still things that we will need to deal with in the future, but I know that everything will be okay as long as we continue to do what the Lord wants us to do. I LOVE my husband so much. He loves me for who I am and is always there for me when I need him. I would say we're definitely on the path of true love! :)
Friday, September 14, 2007
Expensive Airplane Tickets
I've started looking into buying air tickets to fly home for Christmas...boy are they expensive! Since Minnesota is the hub for Northwest, it is the only airline that flies from Rochester to Pasco. To fly from Rochester to Pasco it costs almost $600 a person. Normally, we're able to use discount vouchers, but since Northwest doesn't fly from Seattle to Pasco, the vouchers won't work. :(
Anyway, hoping to save money, I looked at several other options. I've made a list of options I've looked into below:
1. Allegant Air is a new airline to flies from Rochester to Las Vegas and I learned that they fly from Las Vegas to Pasco. The tickets are much cheaper. From Rochester to Vegas, tickets would be $160 and then from Vegas to Pasco it would be $200. Basically half the price! I was really excited until I saw the times for the flights. Unfortanately, they basically fly at the same time...:( Scratch that idea...unless we decide to spend some time in Vegas...
2. By 2 roundtrip tickets. 1 roundtrip ticket from Rochester to Seattle and then from Seattle to Pasco. By doing this, we can use the discount vouchers on the flight from Rochester to Seattle. We would save a little bit of money doing this but the problem is that our returning flight from Seattle would leave at 12 am on New Year's day...which defeats the purpose of spending New Year's eve with family. There was a later flight, but then that would mean getting in really late...which may still be an option. All depends on if we find rides to the Airport of if we'll leave our car there.....
3. I even thought of flying into Spokane and then renting a car to drive home..which would be about 2 hours away. Well, tickets were still over $500. Take into account the cost of renting a car for a day, gas, and time...I didn't think it would be worth it..so this idea is a no go as well.
4. Andy suggessted flying to Pasco from SLC. We have several good friends in Utah so I considered the idea. Also, it would open the option of maybe driving home with my sister Julia and her husband Tim. Well, tickets were still like $500... :(
These were the only options we could think of...I wish air tickets weren't so expensive...I even checked the flights out of the cities. but it looks like tickets are even more expensive. Anyway, hopefully ticket prices will drop soon. I figure we'll need to by tickets in the next month or so. Too bad Southwest doesn't fly out of here...
Anyway, hoping to save money, I looked at several other options. I've made a list of options I've looked into below:
1. Allegant Air is a new airline to flies from Rochester to Las Vegas and I learned that they fly from Las Vegas to Pasco. The tickets are much cheaper. From Rochester to Vegas, tickets would be $160 and then from Vegas to Pasco it would be $200. Basically half the price! I was really excited until I saw the times for the flights. Unfortanately, they basically fly at the same time...:( Scratch that idea...unless we decide to spend some time in Vegas...
2. By 2 roundtrip tickets. 1 roundtrip ticket from Rochester to Seattle and then from Seattle to Pasco. By doing this, we can use the discount vouchers on the flight from Rochester to Seattle. We would save a little bit of money doing this but the problem is that our returning flight from Seattle would leave at 12 am on New Year's day...which defeats the purpose of spending New Year's eve with family. There was a later flight, but then that would mean getting in really late...which may still be an option. All depends on if we find rides to the Airport of if we'll leave our car there.....
3. I even thought of flying into Spokane and then renting a car to drive home..which would be about 2 hours away. Well, tickets were still over $500. Take into account the cost of renting a car for a day, gas, and time...I didn't think it would be worth it..so this idea is a no go as well.
4. Andy suggessted flying to Pasco from SLC. We have several good friends in Utah so I considered the idea. Also, it would open the option of maybe driving home with my sister Julia and her husband Tim. Well, tickets were still like $500... :(
These were the only options we could think of...I wish air tickets weren't so expensive...I even checked the flights out of the cities. but it looks like tickets are even more expensive. Anyway, hopefully ticket prices will drop soon. I figure we'll need to by tickets in the next month or so. Too bad Southwest doesn't fly out of here...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Growing Up Fast
Over Labor Day weekend, my family had their annual 4 day 3 night camping trip near Mt. Rainer. Unfortunately, Andy and I weren't able to attend..maybe next year. :) Anyway, Allison posted a picture of all the grandkids and I can't believe how much they've grown in 1 year! Anyway, just so you can see the change, I've posted the grand kid picture from 2006 and the one from this year.
2006
2007
2006
2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Flooding in MidWest
In case you haven't seen it in the news, there has been several floods in the mid-west this past week due to huge thunderstorms! Luckily, nothing happened to our house....however, it was a very close call. Here is a timeline on our close call...
Saturday August 18 - Raining heavily all day.
10:00 a.m. - We go up to the cities with my parents to attend the temple, go shopping at the Mall of America.
7:00 pm - Meet up with Linda and Michael Friedman for dinner.
9:00 pm - Drive back down from the cities. Raining even harder. Visibility on the freeway is very hard to see and some places had a ton of water.
10:45 pm - Stop by Hy-Vee to by some Asian grocery stuff. The Friedman's were joining us for dinner on Sunday and we wanted to make California rolls.
11:30 pm - Leave Hy-Vee and some roads and the parking lot are flooding. Luckily we found our way out and made it home.
1:00 am - I look out the window and our road is flooding. The water is covering about 1/4 of our driveway.
2:00 am - Look out the window and the water is halfway up our driveway. We moved some of the items in the garage off the floor. Luckily we had decided to move our car into the garage. We had just finished painting it and our stuff was in the way, so we moved it to let the car in.
3:00 am - Our backyard is now a swimming pool and the water is withing inches of our garage.
5 am - Andy wakes up and the water is all gone! Our house is saved! :)
Here are some pics...these were taken at about 2 am. I hope you enjoy them.
This was taken the following morning...just to give you an idea of how high the water was.
Saturday August 18 - Raining heavily all day.
10:00 a.m. - We go up to the cities with my parents to attend the temple, go shopping at the Mall of America.
7:00 pm - Meet up with Linda and Michael Friedman for dinner.
9:00 pm - Drive back down from the cities. Raining even harder. Visibility on the freeway is very hard to see and some places had a ton of water.
10:45 pm - Stop by Hy-Vee to by some Asian grocery stuff. The Friedman's were joining us for dinner on Sunday and we wanted to make California rolls.
11:30 pm - Leave Hy-Vee and some roads and the parking lot are flooding. Luckily we found our way out and made it home.
1:00 am - I look out the window and our road is flooding. The water is covering about 1/4 of our driveway.
2:00 am - Look out the window and the water is halfway up our driveway. We moved some of the items in the garage off the floor. Luckily we had decided to move our car into the garage. We had just finished painting it and our stuff was in the way, so we moved it to let the car in.
3:00 am - Our backyard is now a swimming pool and the water is withing inches of our garage.
5 am - Andy wakes up and the water is all gone! Our house is saved! :)
Here are some pics...these were taken at about 2 am. I hope you enjoy them.
This was taken the following morning...just to give you an idea of how high the water was.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Full House
We definitely have had a full house for the past few days. Andy's sister (Melanie) and my parents are visitng us..so we've gone from a family of 2 to 5. It's been a lot of fun and I'm glad they were able to come visit. We've had a lot of fun playing the WII and doing some fun out door activities. Last night we went fishing at Willow Creek Reservior and we caught 4 fish...we also inherited 4 fish from the other people who were fishing. It was fun.. :)
My dad has also been kind enough to help "fix" a few things around the house...the biggest thing he did was grease our garage door so it wasn't soooo loud. They also helped service our car...I guess our transmission fluid needed to be changed.
Anyway, it's been fun having family around. I really miss being around family. I'm glad they were able to visit us and that we still have a few more days to hang out with them. Melanie leaves Friday and my parents will leave on Monday....so, definitely will need to make the most of our time together. :)
P.S. Pics to be posted later.
My dad has also been kind enough to help "fix" a few things around the house...the biggest thing he did was grease our garage door so it wasn't soooo loud. They also helped service our car...I guess our transmission fluid needed to be changed.
Anyway, it's been fun having family around. I really miss being around family. I'm glad they were able to visit us and that we still have a few more days to hang out with them. Melanie leaves Friday and my parents will leave on Monday....so, definitely will need to make the most of our time together. :)
P.S. Pics to be posted later.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wrestless Night = Random Post
It's 2 am in the morning and for some reason I just can't sleep....I did fall asleep around 10:30 pm but it wasn't a very restful sleep... so, since I'm awake, I decided to write something...
Anyway, the past two days have been very long days...there's just a lot of information and it's hard to pay attention sometimes...especially when they're discussing worksheets that don't pertain to the pieces I'm responsible for. But it's been good and a lot of good discussions have happened.
Tonight was our MHS dinner..we went to a place called the Granfalloon Bar and Grill. It was a pretty cool place but a little small for our group. But it was fun talking to people. I didn't stay too long since I wasn't in the mood for burgers...so I went for a small walk and got some ice cream from Coldstone. I know I know....not a good thing to eat and I'll get fat from eating it, but it's nice to have a treat. Too bad I have to worry about that kind of stuff.. Anyway, then I hung out with 2 of my co-workers around the pool area.
Well...not much else to write....I guess I better try to get some rest.
Anyway, the past two days have been very long days...there's just a lot of information and it's hard to pay attention sometimes...especially when they're discussing worksheets that don't pertain to the pieces I'm responsible for. But it's been good and a lot of good discussions have happened.
Tonight was our MHS dinner..we went to a place called the Granfalloon Bar and Grill. It was a pretty cool place but a little small for our group. But it was fun talking to people. I didn't stay too long since I wasn't in the mood for burgers...so I went for a small walk and got some ice cream from Coldstone. I know I know....not a good thing to eat and I'll get fat from eating it, but it's nice to have a treat. Too bad I have to worry about that kind of stuff.. Anyway, then I hung out with 2 of my co-workers around the pool area.
Well...not much else to write....I guess I better try to get some rest.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Kanasa City Visit #2 - Cerner Design Review
Greetings from Kansas City!! It's my 2nd trip here and we're visiting Cerner this week for our design review. You're probably wondering what exactly design review is so I thought I'd give a little background on what I've been doing...since I haven't done this yet.
Mayo has several sites in the surrounding areas and they are referred to as the Mayo Health Systems (MHS) MHS is a network of clinics and hospitals dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of people in more than 60 communities in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The physicians and their patients are supported by the highly specialized expertise and resources of Mayo Clinic. I am working with the various health sites on a project that will standardize their electronic medical records (EMR).
Anyway, Mayo and the MHS administration has decided to use Cerner as their EMR system and I am specifically in charge of the following areas:
Mayo has several sites in the surrounding areas and they are referred to as the Mayo Health Systems (MHS) MHS is a network of clinics and hospitals dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of people in more than 60 communities in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The physicians and their patients are supported by the highly specialized expertise and resources of Mayo Clinic. I am working with the various health sites on a project that will standardize their electronic medical records (EMR).
Anyway, Mayo and the MHS administration has decided to use Cerner as their EMR system and I am specifically in charge of the following areas:
- CareMobile: A wireless handheld device that can be used to do bedside medication verification and some other simple nursing tasks - such as documenting vital signs.
- Plans of Care: This involved created plans of care from scratch since the system didn't already have standard plans created.
- Meds Process: This area is huge since it involves Med Reconciliation. All I have to say is that it will never go away. You think everything is good but then one little question will set off a whole new string of emails.
So, the past few months, I have been meeting with a set group of people that are from the various health sites to make some decisions on how we would want the system to work. During this design review visit, we should be able to see a little bit of what we've designed to make sure it is really what we wanted. The days will be long and we still have a lot to do...but it should be interesting and fun. Also, it looks like we'll be heading to Kansas City again in October for another visit...
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Recipe Blog
I've been wanting to share recipes online for awhile now, but I just never got around to it. I know there are tons of websites where people are sharing their recipes but I decided to still create my own. So, you'll find the link to my favorite recipes under the other links section. I hope you enjoy them!
P.S. I've also been thinking of creating a book blog as well....Stacy has one and I thought it was a very good idea. When I get around to that, I'll put the link under the other links section as well!
P.S. I've also been thinking of creating a book blog as well....Stacy has one and I thought it was a very good idea. When I get around to that, I'll put the link under the other links section as well!
Monday, July 23, 2007
**Eaten Alive**
The weather this past week has been PERFECT! Not too hot and not too cold. The only downfall is all the mosquito bites! It seems that every time I'm outside, I get new bites. This past weekend, I got at least 13 new mosquito bites!!...6 on my arm and 7 on my legs...I previously had about 5 on my legs. It's crazy! I'll definitely have to start spraying bug repellent from now on...don't think I can handle all the itching. Luckily I have my Harry Potter book to keep me occupied for now.
Harry Potter Craze!!
This past weekend was a ton of fun! Friday night, we planned on going camping at Chester Wood park..well, the campsite was all full so we just decided to go fishing and BBQ our dinner over the campfire. Anyway, everyone has been raving about how great this place was and how you always caught fish. Unfortunately, we didn't catch anything....:( We've decided that we must not be using the right type of bait. Nevertheless, we still had a great time.
Since we didn't camp, Andy suggessted we go get the final book of Harry Potter! I was excited! I had wanted to pre-order it online so I would get a copy for sure, but Andy wouldn't let me. I was thinking that he had bought it for me...but, I didn't see the charges on his credit card (I always check our accounts to make sure nothing funky appeared) so I thought I was wrong.
Anyway, we went to Barnes and Noble to check it out...there were quite a few people there. And I decided that I didn't want to wait in line too long...I didn't have a reserved book so I would have been near the end.....so, we left. But then I decided to go to WalMart. Whenever we're at WalMart, we always spend at least an hour there. So I thought it would be perfect! Andy got really frustrated and finally he said, "Fine! I reserved you a book already! You don't need to wait in line for so long!" It was funny!! I figured something was up since he wouldn't let me get the book online..but I didn't see any charges so I wasn't sure. So, to make the long story short, we waited in Barnes and Noble for about 1 1/2 hours...near the end, the Whetten's showed up. They had also reserved a copy of the book. We chatted for a bit and finally we got our books! YIPPEE! We've been busy doing other things, so I haven't finished it yet..but I'm getting close. I would have finished it last night, but since we had to work today, Andy wouldn't let me stay up...so I'm planning on finishing it tonight! Hopefully I'll like how it ends. :)
Since we didn't camp, Andy suggessted we go get the final book of Harry Potter! I was excited! I had wanted to pre-order it online so I would get a copy for sure, but Andy wouldn't let me. I was thinking that he had bought it for me...but, I didn't see the charges on his credit card (I always check our accounts to make sure nothing funky appeared) so I thought I was wrong.
Anyway, we went to Barnes and Noble to check it out...there were quite a few people there. And I decided that I didn't want to wait in line too long...I didn't have a reserved book so I would have been near the end.....so, we left. But then I decided to go to WalMart. Whenever we're at WalMart, we always spend at least an hour there. So I thought it would be perfect! Andy got really frustrated and finally he said, "Fine! I reserved you a book already! You don't need to wait in line for so long!" It was funny!! I figured something was up since he wouldn't let me get the book online..but I didn't see any charges so I wasn't sure. So, to make the long story short, we waited in Barnes and Noble for about 1 1/2 hours...near the end, the Whetten's showed up. They had also reserved a copy of the book. We chatted for a bit and finally we got our books! YIPPEE! We've been busy doing other things, so I haven't finished it yet..but I'm getting close. I would have finished it last night, but since we had to work today, Andy wouldn't let me stay up...so I'm planning on finishing it tonight! Hopefully I'll like how it ends. :)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Dragon Boat Festival and Harry Potter
Saturday we spent the day in the cities with the Wang's and Craig. We went early to go yam cha. It was yummy! Then we went to this park to see the Dragon Boat Festival. It was pretty neat. The lake was beautiful and it was fun to see the boats practicing. The real race was on Sunday. Anyway, the festival was pretty low key but it was probably packed on Sunday.
After we got back home, we went to watch Harry Potter with our friends Chris and Rahni. It was really good! Of course, it's been awhile since I've read the book so I really didn't remember much. I'm just really excited for the final book to come out! Can't wait to see how the author will finish up the series.
After we got back home, we went to watch Harry Potter with our friends Chris and Rahni. It was really good! Of course, it's been awhile since I've read the book so I really didn't remember much. I'm just really excited for the final book to come out! Can't wait to see how the author will finish up the series.
Camping??
Andy and I have been wanting to go camping again...so, we finally did! Well, sort of. We ended up camping in our friend's backyard. :) Angela and DiPing have a cool firepit and there was plenty of space to set up tents so we camped! The Whettens joined us too, but since Jaclyn had to work the next day, they didn't stay the night. But, we all had a blast! We roasted marshmallows for smores, cooked up some hot dogs, and just chatted.
Later, Andy and I played a game of Swap with Angela and DiPing. It was a pretty fun game..sort of like Uno but you never know who is going to win because you end up swapping hands so many times. Andy was so close to winning then I swapped cards with him. He only had one left and I won the game! :) Then Andy was able to home teach them and then off to bed. The weather was pretty good. It did start to sprinkle a little bit, so we got up to put the rain guard up...we were too lazy to put it up earlier...so lesson learned -- ALWAYS put the rain fly up.
Anyway, we plan on going camping this weekend! Hopefully the weather will hold up.
Later, Andy and I played a game of Swap with Angela and DiPing. It was a pretty fun game..sort of like Uno but you never know who is going to win because you end up swapping hands so many times. Andy was so close to winning then I swapped cards with him. He only had one left and I won the game! :) Then Andy was able to home teach them and then off to bed. The weather was pretty good. It did start to sprinkle a little bit, so we got up to put the rain guard up...we were too lazy to put it up earlier...so lesson learned -- ALWAYS put the rain fly up.
Anyway, we plan on going camping this weekend! Hopefully the weather will hold up.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
~Graduate School~
MBA here I come!! Yup, that's right, I'll be working towards getting my MBA degree from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. I just learned today that I got accepted. :) I'm so excited to finally have the chance to get my MBA degree. Plus, the program is online so I can do classes wherever I am and the best thing is that Mayo will be paying for a majority of it...basically, I'll just be paying for books. How can you pass on that benefit? In general, I've always wanted to go to graduate school and I'm glad that Andy encouraged me to fulfill this wish. I'm grateful for his help and his support.
Lessons from a Tomato Plant
A while back in Elder's quorum, there was mention of tomato plants....I think they related growing tomato plants to Faith or something (I don't remember anymore). So, Andy decided to plant tomatoes. They've been growing very well and they actually have several flowers on it. :) We were pretty excited. Well, one day, Andy didn't water them..well, they started wilting. He was pretty surprised at how fast they wilted. I had made the comment about how we can't miss saying our prayers or reading scriptures. If we do, our faith/testimony will weaken. Then Andy had made the comment that there was always repentance. I agreed with him and said we needed to see if our plants would survive. So, we went and watered them. Then, a few hours later, we checked on them and they had perked right back up. It was amazing! We were glad we saved out plants. :)
Our comments were made somewhat jokingly, but it just reminded me on how important it is to strengthen our testimony. We continually need to water our seeds of faith/testimony for it to grow and we can do this by following the commandments, reading our scriptures, applying what we learn, praying, attending the Temple, and just always striving to become better people. If we don't do these things, our faith and testimony will weaken. However, they'll be strengthened again once we start doing the things we should be doing.
Also, it also re-confirmed the importance of setting goals. Our goal for our plants is to actually grow tomatoes. So, to meet that goal, we will water it every day. In life, we should set realistic goals. That way, we will have something to look forward to and actually do the necessary things to achieve them. Currently, Andy and I have a goal of saying our prayers and of reading our scriptures every day. Since we've made these things our goals, we've actually been doing pretty well and I've really enjoyed it. It's been fun studying the scriptures together and learning from them. We're always trying to apply the things that we've learned.
Anyway, if you haven't already, set realistic goals...both spiritual and life goals. It will definitely give you more direction and give you the motivation to do things... :)
Beginning Stage:
Blooming Plants:
Our comments were made somewhat jokingly, but it just reminded me on how important it is to strengthen our testimony. We continually need to water our seeds of faith/testimony for it to grow and we can do this by following the commandments, reading our scriptures, applying what we learn, praying, attending the Temple, and just always striving to become better people. If we don't do these things, our faith and testimony will weaken. However, they'll be strengthened again once we start doing the things we should be doing.
Also, it also re-confirmed the importance of setting goals. Our goal for our plants is to actually grow tomatoes. So, to meet that goal, we will water it every day. In life, we should set realistic goals. That way, we will have something to look forward to and actually do the necessary things to achieve them. Currently, Andy and I have a goal of saying our prayers and of reading our scriptures every day. Since we've made these things our goals, we've actually been doing pretty well and I've really enjoyed it. It's been fun studying the scriptures together and learning from them. We're always trying to apply the things that we've learned.
Anyway, if you haven't already, set realistic goals...both spiritual and life goals. It will definitely give you more direction and give you the motivation to do things... :)
Beginning Stage:
Blooming Plants:
Visiting Rochester
Yeah! Our first visitors! Since we don't live in a big city, it's not likely that we'll actually have people come visit us. So, it was great when we had friends visit. German, Kitna, Baby, and Kitna's Mom came and visited us as they were making their way to New Y
ork. It was fun. They arrived Friday late afternoon so we showed them around Mayo, ate dinner, and then played some tennis. On Saturday, we spent the day in the cities at the Science Museum. It was nice...their baby is soo cute too. She was a very good baby. Also, the weather was BEAUTIFUL! Perfect fo
r getting a nice tan. :) Anyway, here's a picture of all of us in in front of the Mississippi River. We're glad we had visitors and I'm excited for Andy's sister and my parents to come...they'll be visiting next month. :)
Transformer - The Movie!
On the 3rd, we went to watch Transformer with Craig and Jaclyn. It was an AWESOME movie! We all really liked it. The movie was fast paced and the animation was really good. On the way home from the movie, I couldn't help it but make the 'transformer' sound effect when the robots transformed. Okay, that may be a little extreme, but it was just fun making the noise. :) Anyway, I highly recommend seeing this movie.
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