RUSH - USA

Top Reasons Why Rush is a USA Band: 1 - Because this is a credible source.

I am finally finished with the remodel of my kitchen!

A big pigeon is hanging out in front of my door. That crazy guy has trapped me in where the bug is trying to run me out!

2010 - Waves of Change

New job - New struggles - New fruits of my burdens. I must say that all in all the efforts in my life are paying off. I've spent the last several months working writing and researching an ultrasound report which we finally published today. The title could not be more appropriate for my life:

Rachel's home!

My little sister is home for the summer and I can't remember being this happy!

Niece Date!

Friday I was in complete withdrawals from no time with Cameron and Addison and I drove to Kaysville to spend some time with the amazing duo! I showed up and before I was even out of the car they'd handed me the vase full of flowers they'd picked for me. Seriously... these two totally spoil me. The plan had been ice skating, but the rink was closed and their little hearts had been set on this... We decided instead on ice cream and time at the park. However, on the ride to the ice cream parlor we got lost and found ourselves in front of Chuck E Cheese... Cameron's eyes light up at the possibility and Addison took some convincing... Two minutes later we were in the door and purchasing WAY too many tokens (I could tell by the way the cashier looked at me.) It was probably evident at that point that I was a rookie... We then found our table and split out the tokens and then proceeded in awe at all of the possibilities. We had a hard time choosing the first ride, but settled on this cool bike ride which looked scary to me, but Cameron hopped right on. Then Addison... I love these pics because they look a little nervous. We then hit some additional games and found out that Addison had been hiding her talent for bowling and skeeball and Cameron had an incredible lucky streak! At one point she found me and urgently explained that her machine was just spitting out tons of tickets. People were amazed and formed a circle around her in awe. At several points in the mix they would comment on how much fun it was and, "why don't we do this more offen?" I think the same way... It was fun and more fun than I've had in a VERY long time. The plan is to have a date at least once a month. By the end of the night they had a ton of tickets which I counted diligently and then we went to buy our prizes... The girls experienced some sticker shock and after I told Cameron it'd be 200 for a necklace she said quickly, "FOR A NECKLACE???" They both got some cool things for themselves, but also saved enough money to buy some things for Axel and also tried hard to push something on me. They are so so so sweet! On the road back home they were both silent... 4 hours in a Chuck E Cheese and they were OUT! I had a blast too and really can't believe how often they thanked me and hugged me, even though I gave addison a run for her money at skiball.

Hawaii!!!

Such a busy, crazy Spring and I almost forgot to say how WONDERFUL Hawaii was! We stayed in an amazing resort for 8 days and just relaxed. I had worked like crazy prior to leaving and packed the whole night before and by the time I got there I felt so beat up! However... My wonderful friend Monique met me in the lobby with a beautiful fresh flower lai that she'd brought from another island for me along with a much needed hug. Sweet Monique! Then she and her boyfriend (Jody) helped me take my luggage to my room and took me to a wonderful thai dinner as I tried hard to be any conversation after being so so tired. Back at my room and super tired I found a dead cockroach! UGH! Definitely wasn't sure if it was dead or stunned, but called housekeeping just to be sure!


The next day I spent just relaxing at the beach and of course working.... still much better to work at the beach than in an office watching the snowy weather outside.

Then the next day Crystal flew in from Seattle to visit for a couple of days. We had massages, wonderful runs and walks on the beachy and rocky coast, and ate amazing food! We also found a couple of people to take pictures - well, one guy who didn't know how to work the camera phone...

Crystal stayed a couple of days and monique had left already so the next couple of days were just me, the beach, and the whales playing RIGHT off the coast! It was so phenomenal and already feels like its been too long!

Axel and the Car

On Sunday Axel was just so very happy and I managed to get a couple of shots of him looking right at the camera. Some others are of his best race car driver impression.

Battered....

So there are days that you just get beat up. Then there are weeks. I have been sick with some stupid cough and sinus infection for almost two weeks. There is a girl I work with who would rather complain than be successful. I am her main target because sadly I have shown you can be successful.

After numerous meetings with her this week that also involved my boss I find it hard to see that no one just says, "stop pointing fingers at those in the game and GET IN THE GAME." I also have no ability to understand those who would rather fail and complain than succeed.

If you see me this week... give me a hug.

sun

today on the way to work the sun peeked out between the clouds for a second and I just stared. Instant happiness overcoming me. I thought instantly: wow! It's a whole sun. That's how long it's been since I even saw the sun.

Panick!

change

today we had budget meetings all day and I realized two things:

1- I Get super bored in long meetings

2- people that make you feel bad will always make you feel bad.

In setting goals I have focused on only working with those clients who appreciate what I do for them and their practice. I know that those who don't treat me well will only bring down my ability to help those who believe in me. I realized suddenly that I should do the same in my personal life. New goal.

So to those friends and family who constantly spoil me you will be getting more focused support from me this year: my sisters and crista, Gardner, shad, parents, janele and monique I am sorry It took corporate goals. Thank you!

Specifically this week... Thank you sweet shad for being willing to treat me differently if and when that's what I need!

In Stitches

So today I went to my oral surgeon as a follow up to getting my wisdom teeth pulled. For those of you who don't know this happened last week by a somewhat orange physician who has been intermittently hitting on me.

Today when I met with him he mentioned how it he was sad to know that I didn't have any follow up appointments since now my teeth were pulled. I laughed kind of and he followed saying, "yeah, so I should call you." Without thinking I told him yes.... argh.

Then he examined my teeth - or I should say lack of teeth. He asked if one side had felt sharp. I said no. He said that there seemed to be a stitch remaining, but that it should disolve or "fall out." It was a busy day and I didn't think about it again until JUST NOW.

While watching "how I met your mother" (the best new show on tv) I felt something sharp on the back of my tongue and reached in to find this:

Resilient

Today Cameron broke her arm again. It broke my heart because I can remember the pain still of broken arms and I can remember the worst part - being frustrated at being down to one arm. Thing is that she's bound to get injured in life because she goes about everything she does at full speed without fear. I can't feel too sorry for that. In fact - one of the things I love most about her is that she's already planning what she'll do when the cast is off.

Also... Another thing I noticed about her tonight is that she didn't let her broken arm change her plans at all. She had her Sunday planned and was determined to go through with her plans. When she and G and C got back from the hospital she settled in and immediately began to think forward into the week - Addison's choir concert tomorrow, her cousins coming in on Wednesday, etc.

Until I saw her I was absolutely crushed at the thought of her having another broken arm. But she cruised through this without so much as a second thought. I can promise you that this is a trait she pulls from her mother. Crista has never been held back long by any injury or sad event in her life. I find myself constantly amazed at her ability to snap back to her loving successful self. What a joy to see this passed on to her daughter.

Wisdom Teeth

40 minutes is how long my dad said I was away from him. Quick. Every time I'm put under anesthesia I really think perhaps I won't wake back up. This time I remember thinking how strange it is that I willingly sat in a chair as they strapped monitors to my arms and one leg and then tenderly put a needle in my arm. On the outside I was making jokes to the nurse and to the CRNA. They laughed and then when the surgeon entered I made him laugh as well. When I'm nervous I tend to talk too much. But the whole time I though how strange that I sat so still and so calm when moments before I'd signed the document releasing them from any fault should I not wake up. I tried to think about what I'd want my last thoughts to be... then I was awake again and I don't even remember waking up. Slick. That's all I can call it. Not so slick... That's what I'd call my humor before going under. When the surgeon entered it went like this:
Surgeon: Well how are you doing today Emily?
Me: Actually... I'm more concerned about how you're doing.
Surgeon: Well, I'm REEEALLLY REALLY tired... I didn't sleep at all last night (smirking a bit)
Me: Seriously? We should trade places then.

Right... And yet everyone in the room laughed because somehow they all knew I was thinking, "wow... what if I don't wake up."

Reviews

Today a chocolate craving hit me at work and it was the kind that refused to be ignored. I had no choice but to bargain with a colleague to trade a "full report" for a fun sized Baby Ruth. This led me to thinking... You all might be witnessing the first of many, many reviews. You must feel so lucky!

Recently I had the pleasure of experiencing my first baby ruth. For those of you who have not yet experienced the sinful taste I highly recommend it. Upon first view the BR (yeah, I shortened it) seems fairly similar to other candy bars in that it contains similar ingredients - peanuts, chocolate, some sort of softer chocolate, etc. However, I unhesitatingly assure you that the BR possesses a unique quality above any other bars in its category. Once in your mouth its almost as if it is a welcome relative coming back home. The pleasure it gave me to chew it was only rivaled by the sadness that overwhelmed me upon swallowing...

Being Nastalgic

Its funny how talents exhibit themselves early in life. Recently my little nephew who is incredibly adept at what I would call Physical engineering has figured out how to "disable" a bottle. He has always had such a fondness for figuring out how things work... mind you when I saw ALWAYS he is nearly one and half... Age aside he seems to have an uncanny ability in this area. Recently while on a trip to Salt Lake he sat in the middle row of seats and after days of studying his bottle finally figured a way to open it. He has tried pulling, unscrewing, and biting... none of which worked. On this trip he pushed the nipple to the bottom of the bottle and found a way finally - to open the bottle.

So what I already miss is how even when he was in the middle of play he would stop short, find his bottle, and snuggle up. This is the only time to get real snuggle time with him... I have to admit that I truly wish he wasn't so very smart.

Janeal

Stalled in my move till
You organized my spices
Now I am down town

My boyfriend

Democracy

So today was election day and I am sick as I can ever remember being... I needed to go to the Dr. and I needed to do some work... But I postponed both because my dad said something Sunday which really made me feel super lucky. He brought up that the American President is likely the most powerful position in the world and that every four years it changes - and this is key - without bloodshed. Today as I was lying in my bed after a sleepless night and my throat ached from coughing I felt lucky and I got my but out of bed and cast my vote.

Thanks Dad!