Volunteering

I thought finding a job was going to be really easy for me out here. In my mind I was going to immediately get a job at the sports medicine and orthopedic clinic that's literally three minutes up the road from where we live. It was going to be great. It turns out that my job field is very limited up here, not a lot of jobs, and many of the places want an x-ray tech who is also certified in CT and has worked at least three years. I had only worked a year and a half with my license before we moved. And in order for me to do CT I would have to go back to school and probably commute an hour to go to a teaching hospital.

I'm done with school. I payed off all of my school loans over a year ago. I don't like CT. 

I never heard back from any other job I applied to. I even applied to random stores like Barnes and Noble and Hobby Lobby but I'm over qualified. 

I took the job hunt pretty hard. I felt like I was suddenly a worthless tech who no one wanted. They didn't know me but they knew enough apparently to not want me. 

I finally decided to just start doing some volunteer work at a hospital to help keep me busy and maybe get a foot in the door. 

Best idea ever.

I chose to help out on a couple of the patient floors answering the phone, patient call lights, helping out where I can and also working on the comfort cart. Oh yeah. I take this cart around to every single patient and pass out coffee, tea, juices or water. It's actually really fun and people here in the south are the best. "No thank you sugar." "Thanks so much sweety!" "Oh thank you baby." They really do call everyone and anyone things like that. 

I was also introduced to the radiology manager on my first day who told me to bring her my resume and she would look into things for me. There's a hiring freeze right now though at that hospital which is a bummer but she totally gave me a hug when I gave her my resume. That's how friendly people are here!

Now I should have realized this but for some reason it didn't cross my mind, but all of the volunteers are at least 70 years old. And then there's me, little young looking me who they all think is 18. The old volunteer men like to make the joke that I brought down the average age of the group to 50 now. I've had a couple doctors even do double takes at me, they have a confused look, "Wait, why isn't your hair grey?! Why are you volunteering? You're not 80!" They're normally really impressed actually when I tell them I'm keeping myself busy with volunteering until I can find a job. Just the other day I had a surgeon sitting by me and we went through the routine about why I was volunteering and how I'm a certified rad tech when suddenly he pulls out his prescription pad and writes me a "letter" of recommendation to take to another hospital! It blew me away! He also told me he was going to talk to the radiology manager again for me.  I'm grateful for kind people like that in this world. 

I took his prescription to the other hospital and talked to the HR department. They only have an opening for an MRI job so no luck there. But I'll keep looking. The HR girl was completely confused about the prescription letter of recommendation. haha It was so great. I doubt she's ever seen anything like that! 

I don't know when or if a job will come out of all this, but I'm enjoying my time volunteering. It's good to socialize with all these people of different backgrounds. I love the southern black women, all of their "mmhmmm!" It's just fun to make some friends. My favorite is an old lady named Margaret who is a volunteer and trained me on the comfort cart. She's a retired nurse from England. Her mother was a nurse as well and a midwife! (If you've seen the tv show Call the Midwife, then you know that I was dying to find out that her mother was one of those women!) She's a hoot and her England accent is the best thing to find in the deep south. I love it.

Anyways, I'm glad things are happening the way they are. I know it wasn't how I wanted but guess what? Heavenly Father knows way more then I do! So I'll just keep going along with his plan.

Utah in the Fall

I knew I was going to miss the mountains when I moved, but I didn't realize quite how much. Especially when fall came around and my Instagram and Facebook feeds were full of the changing colors in the mountains.

This picture is from Scott's parent's back yard, those mountains have been the background of most of my life. They have always been that close.

The south has giant trees, everywhere. They are my distraction from how flat Covington is. But everything is still so green! I've seen one tiny little baby tree change colors so far. It's pathetic.

 But Scott, being the perfect husband for me, knew that a quick trip home was needed. Not just for the fall leaves but to be around family. The honeymoon phase of moving to a new exciting place has worn off and it's been a little hard.

I've missed being surrounded by people I know. 

Also, dry air is the most wonderful thing.

And humidity is not. :)

But enough of my whining. I just want to look at my views through the canyon. 

This is our candid I-thought-we-were-done-taking-pictures-faces... I love it.

Don't worry guys. I'm happy. I have the best husband in the world for me. As long as he's here, I'm okay.

Thanks Utah for a wonderful quick weekend. You're awesome.

Thesis Defeated

Scott sent me this photo yesterday...

YAY!!! He has officially and successfully defended and conquered his thesis for his Masters in Geology! 

I'm a very proud and happy wife.

Yay for freedom and no more school stress!

Woot! Woot!

BMT

Nov. 14, 2001

Dear Journal, 

     My older sister Heather's bone marrow is not making the blood cells. So she has to have a bone marrow transplant. My family went to the hospital on Monday. We each had to have a blood test. Who ever had the same bone marrow as Heather would give some away to Heather. We got my test result back and Amie's. Amie is not a match but the test says that I'm a perfect match! I'm going in today just to make sure that I have everything Heather needs. The first thoughts I had in my mind were "I'm so happy" and at the same time scared. But I know that everything will go well. 

Nov. 14, 2001

Dear Journal,

     Natalie and Nathan are not a match but they match each other. I am the only one who has the same as Heather. We went to the hospital today, me and my mom. We found out a lot about Heather. Heather is going to lose her hair but it will grow back. She might not be able to have children. I went and got more blood taken out of me today. It hurt more then on Monday. I will have to be checked out tomorrow at 12:00. I have to go back up to the hospital. But I'm glad I can still do Manilla Magic and be a soloist. But a bad thing is that Heather will have to live close by the hospital for a while. I feel really sad for Heather. 

Nov. 15, 2001

Dear Journal,

     Today I got checked out again to the hospital. All they did with me was a normal check up. Like eye sight, hearing, breathing and so on. Today I found out that I'm going have an I.V. on my hand when they do the bone marrow transplant. They put me to sleep and then put a needle in my hand with a tube around it. After they have it all in they take the needle out and leave the tube in. When I wake up I'll be in the recovering room. I won't feel like eating much because they also put my stomach to sleep. The hospital gave me a doll to do I.V. on it to understand more. It was fun. When I do the bone marrow transplant Heather and I will have a bone marrow birthday! So Heather and I will have two birthdays a year! I also get to watch my bone marrow go into Heather. 

Nov. 26, 2001

Dear Journal,

     Today I'm going in for surgery. I got to stay at a hotel with my mom and dad. We had to leave the hotel at 5:00 in the morning that day. When we got there we had to get checked in. Then they did a regular check up. I had to get in some hospital pajamas. While I was in the waiting room I had to take some medicine. It was gross! then I got on a wheelchair bed. Then they took me to the operating room. They made me breath into a mask which made me to go sleep. When I woke up I was in a recovery room with  my mom. They wouldn't let me go up and see Heather until I went to the bathroom. When I went up to Heather I got to ride in a wheelchair. I saw my bone marrow in one of those plastic bags. It looked more like a red-ish orange-ish color compared to blood. I thought it would look like yellow-ish green-ish color. When the nurses came in two of them were carrying stuff. I thought it was going to be for Heather and I and I was right! I got a quilt, a beanie baby bear, a balloon, and a poster that said, "Megan you're super, thank you!" Heather gave me a shirt and some long pink pants. They were so cute! Heather got most of the same stuff as me except her poster said, "Happy BMT Birthday Heather!" The BMT stands for bone marrow transplant. 

     Five million is a good number to give away in stem cells from bone marrow. I gave away nine and a half million! Almost double! Now Heather and I can't share a room. We have to get the room downstairs finished before Heather gets home. I miss her. 

I love you Heather. I'm grateful for your example to me. I'm grateful for the bond that we have not only from sisterhood, but also from this experience and opportunity that I had to serve you. I would do it all over again any day. 

*****

For more details check out these posts from Heather from years past...

2008

2009

2010

2011

Blessing of Fathers

My last post was more on the gloom and downside of life but lucky for me I have been blessed with amazing parents who hear my cry for help and respond. After I had a falling apart cry session to my dad, talking about things I was having a hard time with, the struggles of life and the weight of responsibility he gave me a father's blessing. How grateful I am to have a wonderful loving dad who knows the exact answer to what I need. How also grateful I am for my Heavenly Father who is there to inspire my father as he gave the blessing. I was given needed reassurance about things that I had been struggling with. I felt the love of both of my fathers pouring out on me. I was given strength and ability to continue forward. I was given a boost, a reminder of things I had forgotten.
I see every day how blessed I am to have the parents I do. To have a father who loves me and helps me in every area of life. My dad has opened my eyes to so many aspects of the world that I would have never experienced without him. I have grown in his way of trying new things, developing many diverse hobbies and learning in both ways of educational and spiritual. I have learned to love nature; to enjoy the outdoors. I have learned honest work ethic. I have grown up seeing his passion to serve others. I love my dad. I love that it is Father's Day and we get to take the time to appreciate the work that they do and the influence they have. I love my Heavenly Father as well and I see His hand in my life daily. I have a good life. I have a blessed life. I have a father.

Car Troubles

Well, life got quite interesting this last weekend. My plans were to drive up to Rexburg Saturday morning so I could visit family and friends up there but I never even made it past Salt Lake. I got in a lovely little accident that totaled the car and obviously canceled the trip. Picture this: I'm in the middle lane on the freeway going about 70mph when my back right tire blows. The car started almost fishtailing and at that moment my mind blanked out, the only thing going was my reflexes trying to keep the car in the lane. Well that didn't work for very long because I lost control of the car. It spun around and across the right lanes until I was facing backwards and then the drivers side of the car slammed into the concrete wall. I definitely screamed once I lost control until I hit the wall. Lucky for me I hit right where a lane was starting to appear for an off ramp so I was pretty out of the way of traffic. I also somehow managed to hit a trucks front bumper during my spin. His truck only had a dent, at least that's all he told me. I never saw the front of his truck. But my car was banged up very nicely. The two driver side doors wouldn't open and the hood and trunk were bent up. The front right tire rod was broken as well. But no one was hurt. I was completely fine. I do have a good bruise on the side of my knee and I had a stiff neck the next day but nothing else. I was one lucky girl and I know that Heavenly Father was watching over me. There were a number of miracles and blessings from this whole experience which I won't go into detail about, but I do know that I was protected. I could have flipped, I could have hit more cars, I could have been in the middle of Idaho in a no-man's land area where there are no concrete barriers to stop you. (Just to name a few)

My skid marks across the freeway and into the wall. 

Goodbye little car. You served us well. You won't really be missed because the new car we have is a definite upgrade in my eyes.

Mommy

Dear Mom, 

I love you. As I've grown and come to see many other family situations I realize every day how blessed I am to have you as my mom. I am grateful for the relationship we have. It's the perfect in between of best friend but yet a watchful mother relationship. I enjoy telling you about my life, and your advice is spot on... most of the time ;) You work so hard for me, you have my whole life. You even took on an extra job to help me out with my tuition. I try so hard to do my part, but I'm grateful that you have my back. I'm grateful for the gift of music that you have passed onto us kids. I am blessed to have your ear for music around. Granted it might have been slightly annoying while I was learning the piano, but I love that I was able to go to you for help with my solo. You help improve me. I love that you are in the Mormon Tabernacle choir. You're a great example to me. Thanks for the way you raised me. I know I turned out the way I did because you helped nudge me in the right direction every time I veered off. I love you mom.

Happy Mother's Day :)

Some Happenings

Here's a song for you.

On some other notes:
I'm reading The Princess Bride.
I'm stuck between two music genres of soundtrack goodness (aka Finding Neverland and The Kings Speech), and classic music from the 40's. (aka The Andrew's Sisters, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra... the works.)
I've decided to listen to a conference talk while getting ready in the morning first before I turn on my music.
I have one test left before the end of the semester.
I received a scholarship for about half of my tuition for summer semester!! (Major major blessing)
I'm still waiting to get my LPT license but things have been made more clear about the working at the hospital and the guaranteed 8 hours a week I thought I would have, is no longer guaranteed. Which means the mall job will be held onto a little longer then planned.
I saw someone die for the first time over general conference weekend while working at the hospital. It was incredibly sad and definitely shook me up. It was one of those moments that brings  to a greater light what is truly important in life. Again, what would I do without the knowledge that I have of the gospel?

Finally, A Break

I survived my test. I feel okay about it, but I won't know for certain until I receive my results in the mail. They told me to expect anywhere from 10 days to 4 weeks for the delivery... which I completely don't understand since the whole test was taken on a computer and probably graded right then. So I'm just going to forget about that test for a few weeks as to reduce unneeded stress.

But blessed Weber State for giving me a wonderful glorious spring break!! I have been needing this. The sunshine. No clinical hours or classes. My week hasn't been this open in a long time! Granted I still have quite a lot of homework to get caught up on since I pushed everything aside for the LPT test. It's okay, it'll all work out  and I'll pass and then start picking up shifts that I'll actually get paid for! Life is a grand thing isn't it?

P.S. 3 late nights in a row have really done me in.

Thanksgiving Leaves

I'm grateful the most for my family and the gospel. Those are the two things in my life that will always be there for me. And those are the two things that I need most in this life. 

Thanksgiving this year was simple. At home, with family, relaxed.

Thanksgiving "dinner" was eaten at 2:00 in order to maximize our lethargic digesting stage while still spending time with each other. A movie was watched. Pie was served. And leaves were played in. 

Let me introduce to you my cousin Doug's children...

Emalyn and Liam. 

Basically the cutest little kids out there. 

     

   

It was a grand ole time to say the least. 

I'm thankful for the beautiful Thanksgiving Day weather. 

They Never Wavered

Do you remember this book I was reading? Well I finally finished it today. It's taken me well over a year to read (mostly because I only read a few pages every Sunday) but I'm grateful for this book. I'm grateful for the lives that my ancestors have lead. I'm grateful for their examples. Let me share with you some excerpts from the book.

While a POW, Forrest Packard kept track of the days of the month and on the first Sunday of each month he would fast. He would give his allotted portion of food to another POW whom he felt needed the food for then he did.

Esther Packard had 11 children to support alone. Ward and stake priesthood leaders came to exempt her from paying tithing during the time her husband was a POW. Her answer was, "You wouldn't deprive me of that?" She then pointed to her eight boys, "with eight strong boys like these? And you want to deny me the blessings of tithing?" During all the rough times, she always paid her tithing.

Esther Packard also said, "I am even thankful I have two babies dead, that I may have the privilege of raising in a time when sin and temptation will have no place."

Forrest was given a blessing May 8, 1941 in the Hawaiian Temple before leaving to Wake Island. "Brother Packard, I bless you that you will return to your loved ones unharmed and in happiness after much trial and hardship. Your family will be in good condition and their number increased. You will be blessed on land and sea. Eventually you will return and find your family chain unbroken."
Forrest was also told in his blessing to obey his temple covenants. Many on the other men worked in shorts with no shirt. Forrest wore bib-overalls, a shirt and his metal hat. It was said that Forrest would hook his thumbs in the straps of his overalls and smile at you as he talked. On a side note, there was a heat wave in Wake Island soon after Forrest arrived, and no wind to cool them down. But he never strayed from obeying his temple covenants.

Forrest was caught between some of the buildings when the bombs started to fall in Wake Island. He heard a small voice tell him to lie down. At first he hesitated but the voice said as clear as day, "Fall on your face." So he fell down on his face until the bombing was over. In one direction 60 ft. away a bomb had dropped, in another direction 90, in another 120 ft. He was surrounded by bomb craters. A coworker did not lie down and was mowed down by shrapnel. If he would've remained standing, he would have been killed.

Esther wanted to continue carrying out the traditions she and Forrest had started. She prayed for guidance and help. The answer she received was to play games with her children. As a result she had two purposes; first, to improve herself and her own skills so that she could earn a livelihood, and second, to spend every possible moment "living it up" with her family.

Esther would play games with them every night, often until 1:00 AM or later. While they were playing, she would teach the principles of the gospel in an atmosphere that was easy to accept. There wasn't much arguing - if there was, Esther would stop the game. One time when they continued to bicker, Esther threw the game into the fire and burned it.
Bill Packard said, "A team of horses couldn't have pulled up away from home. If there was a choice of playing with mom or our friends, we always chose mom."

Forrest never did any wheeling and dealing when it came to the Red Cross boxes and trading. He just exchanged with the fellows the things he did not use for useful food. He did not take advantage of the others.

Esther would encourage her children when they had the hard farm work. "She would keep encouraging us to do it, so we developed the attitude that we could." Someone would have to ride the cultivator in the raspberry patch so it would get down in the ground. They would get all scratched up from the vines. Floyd said it was a "miserable, miserable job, but we did everything we could to make things work, because our mother convinced us we could."

"Probably the only time Forrest was beaten was when he was defending another, or when he would be working and the workload was such that he couldn't carry his load." - Lloyd Nelson

Even with all the abuse, Forrest did not have ill feelings about the Japanese people as a whole - "just certain individuals were bad." He never said anything bitter about them. He never called them Japs, but Japanese. He tried not to turn against them even though he was certainly hit and abused during his internment. A common sentiment by the former POWs was that Forrest did not become hateful or hostile; he didn't become bitter or antagonistic toward the Japanese. We learn a great lesson from Forrest: It is possible to overcome obstacles harassment, and abuse we may face without losing our dignity and goodness. And we can face prejudice without becoming prejudiced in return.

Forrest's personality was tempered by his experiences as a prisoner. His faith was strong. Every survivor who knew him said he was a good man; a spiritual man; a peacemaker; a man of sterling character; a man who lived his religion; a man who helped many others survive their prison ordeal; a truly great man; a man who quietly relied upon his Heavenly Father for the strength to endure those terrible indignities.

Feeling Better

It's been interesting the span of emotions I've had from getting accepted into the radiology program. It's gone from ecstatic joy to uncertainty. There's four of us that will be doing clinical hours at the American Fork hospital and when I found out that two of them have shadowed there for over a year and already know everyone I felt discouraged. I felt like they would have a leg up on me and already be more advanced and in sync with what's going on. This morning a few of us got together with the clinical instructor for an orientation at the A.F. hospital and I feel a lot better now. The girl that shadowed is just as lost as I am. Granted she knows her way around the building more but she's just as nervous and unsure.

I realized today that I'm going to love having my clinical hours at the A.F. hospital instead of the Provo hospital. A.F. is small, cozy, relaxed, fun. Everyone is nice and willing to help you out. There's only four students there which means more learning for me with less competition. And it's very likely I could get a job there even during my two year program. They're in need of man power and they depend on the students. I like that. It forces me to get a handle on things that much faster. 

Anyways, I'm just really excited to start. I'm ready to be busy in school work again. I'm ready to start working in a hospital. 

A World of Half Trees

 This post is dedicated to all the trees out there that sacrificed their limbs for human advancement. Thank you. 

Good

You know what's really nice?
Going to the temple Saturday with all the roommates home.
Want to know what else is nice?
Sleeping in the living room.
Guess what else?
Hot showers.
And blow dryers.
And having a crepe party tonight.

Day 30: The Last Day

Finally. Not that this hasn't been fun and interesting, but I feel like I can't post about anything else while this is going on so it'll be nice to have my blog back.

Anyways, Day 30: A photo of myself and 3 good things that have happened.

Thing #1: I turned 20. (This encompasses my birthday gifts as well)
Thing #2: Words of Isaiah institute class.
Thing #3: Moving into Sunset Hall, downstairs.

Dad

Have I ever told you how much I love my dad? Probably not. But I can honestly say that there is no one else that promotes all the random things I get interested in like my dad does. I remember back in Jr High, I started getting interested in architecture from my art class. My dad of course proceeded to give me a book he had that went through all the different types of houses, Victorian, Gothic buildings...everything. Which then led him to tell me about Frank Lloyd Wright. When I got interested in photography he sat me down on the couch and taught me everything about the camera. He would show me the different settings as we took pictures of our shoes. He followed it with getting me a small portable tripod for my camera. When I was young I must have gotten interested in racquetball because I got a racket for my birthday. I now try and play racquetball with him every time I come home. When I became interested in the medical field and anatomy, he bought me a computer program that came with a medical dictionary, anatomy atlas and a human 3D program. My dad taught me the correct way to save/share/burn music. I am no longer a victim of itunes music hording ways. As I got excited for the new Alice in Wonderland movie to come out, my dad sent me an email with the Alice Theme Song. Can I just say that it's an epic song. I love it. When I got interested in chalk art, my dad sent me photos of chalk art some missionaries had done. When my interests in astrology became evident, he got me a packet of constellation glow in the dark stars for your ceiling. I remember laying them out on my floor trying to  coordinate it all perfectly in comparison to how they really appear in the sky. Eventually I gave up.

Well recently I've been on an autobiography craz...as I'm sure you've seen by my posts. My recent choices of reading have been either Martin Luther King Jr, Fred Astaire, or Frank Lloyd Wright. I don't know if any of you know about my dad's love for old radio shows...like in the movie, A Christmas Story, how the kids lie around the radio and listen to the show... anyways, he sent me one the other day about Frank Lloyd Wright. I was in the library when I saw it and a smile lit across my face. I'm sure if someone was looking at me they would've thought I was delusional with homework or something. But I'd just like to say thank you dad for always being interested in whatever I'm interested, for always encouraging me in everything I do. I like to think I'm a much "rounder personality" type because of you. Love you dad.