Randomness!

Laura posted something like this on her blog today, so I decided to as well. Here's the 18th picture of the 47th folder in my pictures!


This picture is of this little Mexican kid that Sean and I played with when we went sledding February 2008 up at the cabin. Sean got him to throw some snowballs at me, so I went up to the kid and told him that he didn't actually want to throw snowballs at me, that the person who he should throw snowballs at was Sean! The kid totally listened to me and started pelting him, which was great fun. :)

Update!

I've been really terrible at blogging this semester, but it has sure been a hectic one! This week alone, I have 4 midterms, 2 quizzes, a big EMS event (a mock Mass Casualty Incident) that I was part of the planning committee for, and a job interview, on top of everything else I'm trying to juggle. Oh, and have I mentioned that I woke up Monday morning feeling absolutely terrible, and it's Friday now, and I'm still horribly sick? Yeah. This rocks.

But here's some good news - I got a job for this summer! I'm going to be the EMT Supervisor at Seven Peaks Water Park, here in Provo, which means that I am staying here this summer, as well as going to school to get a bunch of my GE classes done. I am so excited. Basically, Becca, my boss, said that I am the head EMT! How cool is that?

Anyways, other news: Sean is in Houston, finally, after spending 9 weeks in the MTC and going through 2 companions. :) His first one left after 3 weeks to go to the Madrid MTC. I'm so excited for him to be starting out this new phase of his mission. Also, today is my tithing day, meaning that he has been gone for 10% of his mission already. Just 9 more times what I've already done and then he'll be home! Hooray!

I'm in the middle of writing to him right now, so I'm going to get back to that, but I just wanted to update on here really quick before I forgot!

I'm Stalling!

It's a scary week for me. I have so much to do, too many tests to study for, and not enough time to do all of it. But, I got to see Sean at the MTC last night (legally, too)! I also got to see him last week. I've been covering the MTC Devotional shifts for EMS, so I get to be in the same room as he is once a week, and the last two weeks, I've actually gotten to talk to him and shake his hand. :)

It's been pretty cool. (This picture was taken the day he reported to the MTC.)

Some good, but unrelated news - The parents of one of Sean's friends were murdered last year...and the suspect was arrested on Monday, finally!

Anyways. Enough stalling. Back to studying protista and fungi...

S.A.D.

Happy Single's Awareness Day.

This Valentine's Day sucks. Sean's gone. I can't be with him, and even if I were able to see him, I would only be allowed to shake his hand.

I saw this picture in the Wilk last night. I know it doesn't quite apply because he still loves me, but I just can't be with him or talk to him on the phone or hug him or anything right now.


Also, tomorrow, the 15th, is what would have been the "official" one-year mark of us dating. It's going to be a crappy weekend. I don't have anything to do, and I don't have classes again until Wednesday night.

EMS Update

I've had a pretty awesome semester, as far as EMS calls go. Here's what some of the chief complaints have been, just this semester:

-Fractured skull/temporal lobe brain bleed/trauma-induced seizure
-Chest pain
-Menstrual cramps
-Sprained ankle
-Seizures.
-Lacerations.
-Neck injuries.
-Faintings.
-Car accidents.
-Shortness of breath.
-Knee Pain.
-Panic attacks.

I've had thirteen calls (I think) this semester, from running 17 shifts, which is a pretty impressive average. (Watch, now I'm jinxing myself by saying that.) Some people might scoff and say, "That's a little less than one per shift!" Well, at BYU EMS, we don't get many calls, so we feel pretty lucky to get one call each shift! We've run about 170 shifts so far this semester, and there have been about 65 calls. I think I've been pretty lucky, so far. Last year, though, I got to go on a lot of calls at the beginning of the semester, and then I just stopped getting any. Let's just hope this semester isn't like last semester!

My Amazing Knock-Off Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burritos

Knock-off Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burritos, Enchilada Style

I made these for some of my friends on Sunday night, and it was a great hit, so I decided to post the recipe for everyone to see!

Sweet Pork Recipe:
3lbs pork roast
8oz taco sauce (I used enchilada sauce)
1/2 can Coke
1 cup brown sugar

Cook pork in crock pot about 6 hours, until it shreds easily. 2 hours before serving, shred pork and return to crock pot (discard juice from pork). Pour taco sauce, coke, and brown sugar over pork and mix well. Cook for 2 more hours.

Almost Cafe Rio Lime Rice
4 cups water
2 cups white rice
1/4-1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
3-4 T fresh minced garlic
4-5 tsp chicken bouillon
Juice of 1 lime

Saute rice in butter with garlic, cilantro, bouillon, and lime juice over low heat for 1-2 minutes. Stir in water, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Makes 6 cups.

Heat up some beans on the stove for the burritos. I used a 19.75 oz can of La Costena Whole Pinto Beans, as well as a smaller can of whole black beans so people could choose what kind of beans they wanted.

For tortillas, I used the uncooked tortillas from Costco (and then cooked them, of course).

Assemble the burritos and flip them so the seam side is down. Pour salsa verde over the top, sprinkle Mexican Fiesta cheese (or equivalent) on the salsa verde, and stick it in the oven or the microwave just long enough to melt the cheese. Serve hot!

This recipe makes TONS of food. I fed 5 starving college students (4 girls, 1 boy), and it barely looks like we made a dent. Enjoy!

Easiness factor: 9/10 (easy enough for someone with little to no cooking experience --me-- to make with no difficulties!
Yumminess Factor: 10/10 (tastes just like the Cafe Rio pork burritos. Yum!)

The Facebook "25 Random Things About Me" thing.

1. I've never written a note on Facebook before.
2. I've never taken one of those "let's have everyone jump at once!" pictures.
3. I'm an EMT and volunteer for BYU EMS. And I love it just a little too much. People tell me I'm a sick person. I would say that I'm a workaholic when it comes to EMS. Except I don't get paid, so maybe I'm a volunteeraholic?
4. I highlighted my hair ONCE in eighth grade. It didn't turn out very well (it was one of those do-it-yourself kits), so I don't plan on ever highlighting it again.
5. I'm in nursing school right now at BYU. And I'm starting to go crazy with all of my classes this semester that I have to take for it!
6. I want to be an emergency flight nurse and fly in helicopters.
7. I saw the Star Wars movies for the FIRST time this last summer. And the LOTR movies came out in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and I didn't see ANY of them until August 2007.
8. The first boy I kissed was in kindergarten. Does that even count? It was behind the bookcases in our classroom when we were supposed to be outside playing on the playground. Nothing more than a peck, though! If that doesn't count, then Sean was the first boy I kissed.
9. I hated Provo all throughout my freshman year. I didn't want to come back, but I knew that I needed to be at BYU, so I didn't really have a choice. Now I love it! (But I don't plan on ever living here permanently).
10. I started asking for a cat when I was five. My parents finally gave in when I was 14. Then I went off to college 4 years later and they still have my cat. We had a cat living in our apartment last semester. His name was Zoram, and he was a little runt. Super cute, though! He was totally a devil. I think he was possessed. Now he lives in Arizona with one of my roommates who moved out after fall semester.
11. Pink is my favorite color. If it's pink, I'll probably like it, unless it's a car. I'm not a fan of pink cars (guess I'll never be a Mary Kay dealer then, right?)
12. I've only ever had one boyfriend. Sean. I dated him for a little more than a year, and he left almost a month ago to go on a mission to Houston, Texas, where he'll be for the next two years.
13. I'm thinking of learning Spanish, or at least SOME Spanish. Sean's learning Spanish at the Missionary Training Center right now, and I want to be able to talk to him that way. AND, knowing Spanish is almost a necessity if you want to be a nurse in California. Or anywhere, basically.
14. Because I took 5 years of French in high school, my parents took me to France during spring break of my senior year.
15. Monterey is one of my favorite cities. Sean and I went on several dates there.
16. 16's been my favorite number since I was 9. It was my number in class because when everyone was listed in alphabetical order by last name. And I was #16 when I was ten, too. And I was in room 16. It's Sean's favorite number too!
17. Sean and I have a ridiculous amount of things in common.
18. Apparently I'm a pretty good cook, but cooking stresses me out, so I don't like doing it.
19. I hate hate hate doing laundry. So much that I let it pile up until I have like, no more clean clothes, and I'm forced to do it.
20. Sean asked both Leslie and me on a date at the SAME time to the SAME place. That's when we started realizing how many weird little things we have in common (see #17).
21. I'm working on a project of transcribing all of my Grandpa Madsen's journals. It's going to take a long time - there's a lot of them!
22. I try and act like I'm doing really well with Sean being gone, even if I'm not. I don't like people seeing me as vulnerable. Most of the time I am doing okay. But sometimes it's just too hard. But letters and tapes from him are the BEST!
23. I've ridden my bike from Livermore to Yosemite TWICE. Yes, it was long. Yes, it was hard. Yes, it was 170 miles. But I love my bike. It's a Specialized Allez. Oh yeah, baby. We've gone through a lot together.
24. I didn't like the Body Worlds exhibit. Sean and I went to see it when it was in Salt Lake City, and we both came away feeling like it was disrepectful. Well. Some of it. The blood vessel parts were neat. Also, because of this, I think, I don't like the cadavers in Anatomy very much. And yes, I realize that it's for a good cause (science and learning and all of that) and that it is a wonderful teaching tool, but it kind of creeps me out a little. It might be better for me if I knew something about these people - what they did for a living, how many kids they had, etc. But I don't know. We'll see how this semester goes in Anatomy Lab.
25. I LOVE my desktop computer. It's pink (my favorite color)! I want to see how my laptop would fare vs. gravity out my bedroom window a lot of the time. But don't worry, I won't test that one out because it still comes in handy once in a while!