Happy Birthday

Today is Dylan's 28th birthday!

I had a test this morning so I woke up super early to study and then made him waffles before I headed off to school. 

After my test we looked at some apartments and townhomes and grabbed lunch at Panera.

And now we are getting ready to go eat dinner at the Mandalay Bay buffet! He's really excited and I'm excited for him. Buffet's make money off me and lose money on people like him so we even out.

Yesterday my family celebrated his bday and I made him a cake. French vanilla cake with strawberries and homemade chocolate frosting in the middle and on top. It was delish! 

My sweet little niece Emma wanted to give him a present so she wrapped up one of her princess doll houses with her pink blanket and then had her belt wrapped around it. Pretty creative I thought. But in the doll house she had some plastic Easter eggs that was Dylan's present. She was pretty happy and proud of her self. It was really cute.

18 more days and he'll be my HUSBAND!!!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

I'M ENGAGED!

May 20, 2011 Dylan proposed to me at the Las Vegas temple!! I can't believe it! Definitely the biggest surprise and shock of my life.

Just 6 weeks earlier we broke up and it was devastating for the both of us. We didn't talk or communicate the whole time so you can imagine my surprise when I saw him standing there at the temple with beautiful flowers in hand with a ring! I was in complete shock! I didn't even know what to say or do. I don't even know if I was breathing the whole time. But it was perfect. I can't really remember what all he said but he wrote it down for me thankfully.

Here is the story from my perspective....Friday afternoon I got a call from my dad asking if I could go to the temple that afternoon to do some baptisms to help out a family in the ward, and I of course said yes I could go. So when I got home from school I was getting ready to leave and kept asking my mom, 'why do they need me if there's a family doing them?' I kind of knew something was going on, but never in my wildest dreams did I think Dylan would be there. So my mom just tried to brush it off and say she didn't know any details and she just told me to put on a cute outfit! (haha umm...I woke up at 6am that morning, was in the lab all day in my scrubs practicing trach care, foley insertions, and central line dressing changes, and didn't even think about fixing my makeup since I was going to do baptisms so....yeah. Had I known what was going to happen I would have looked a lot cuter then I did!) My mom, dad and me get in the car and start driving up to the temple and I was studying in the backseat so I was in my own little world. So we pull into the parking lot and right when we are getting out of the car my dad says under his breath, 'well, this should be interesting'. I remember thinking why would this be interesting? It's just baptisms...

We are walking up to the door and then my dad said he wanted to show us something in front of the temple so we walk around and I'm just looking around and out of the corner of my eye I could see my mom keep looking at me and finally my parents stop walking and I look forward and there was Dylan standing there in his suit with flowers. I turned to my parents and mumbled something (I have no idea what) and started to tear up a bit and immediately my hands and knees starting shaking. We both started walking towards each other and he gave me a kiss and a hug and walked me over to where he was standing. This is where I think I might have stopped breathing cause everything after this point is a little fuzzy to me. I don't think there's a word to describe how I was feeling at that point. It was just perfect. He talked for a minute or two and then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and I said YES!!

So a big question in my mind was...what the heck did he say to my parents for this to happen?? Well, turns out Thursday night he was trying to get a hold of my dad as he was driving down to Vegas from Provo and in order for me to not be around when he was trying to call my dad, he had our friend Jake call and talk to me so I would be occupied. He got a hold of my dad and asked if they could grab lunch the next day. My mom and dad went to lunch and Dylan just was very sincere and just told them everything that had happened and that he wanted to marry me. Now, my family has always loved Dylan but didn't love the back and forth, on and off relationship that we've had so it was hard for everyone when we broke up just cause they all liked him. But whatever he said to my parents worked!

I can't even explain how I feel right now. This was such a surprise and I've never been this happy. This is just the best feeling ever!! He has been my best friend for years now and I can't imagine marrying anyone else. It took him a little longer to get to this point but it was all worth it. I don't think I would change anything about our relationship roller coaster cause it's just what needed to happen in order for us to get to this point. It's all happening so fast but it's just so much fun! My family has been so amazing and supportive and I just feel so grateful for all the love that people are showing us. I'm marrying into such a wonderful family and I can't wait to be a Patterson!

We have pictures of when he was proposing and some other fun ones I'll have to post soon. I'm just still trying to catch my breath and not fail out of nursing school. Of course this would happen during the hardest semester of nursing school and at the busiest time...3 weeks before finals but I love it! It just makes it that more exciting. And I'm so glad it's a short engagement! I have 3 weeks off the end of June and won't really have any long breaks till the end of the year so everything is working out perfectly!!

I'm so in love with Dylan and I just can't believe that I'm the lucky girl that gets to be with him forever! I can't wait to marry him!

Pop Tarts

I made homemade pop tarts this weekend. I don't know why I waited so long to make them.

So easy and so delicious! Just pretend there's sprinkles on top.

I found the recipe here.

Idol Love

Love Haley and love this song

I love everyone on Idol this season. It's hard for me to pick a favorite they're all sooooo good.

But one thing I could do without is the camera guy always getting the up the skirt shots on the girls. Seriously every week someone always has a tiny dress or skirt on and those people in the front row (and all of America) are seeing a lot of leg!
No thanks.

Spring Break

Technically I'm 98% closer to spring break. I just have to make some final revisions for my theory paper and hit submit and start spring break 2 days early!

I think the people who came up with stupid nursing theories are lame and what's even more stupid is that we have to learn about these theorists for a full semester. Seriously? dumb!

So speaking of spring break, I can't wait to get tan, paint my nails, not wear scrubs, do my hair, go shopping, be normal, and sleep! I just want to be normal again and look cute and get dressed up and wear heels! A new obsession I have is eyelash extensions. Oh how I wish I had a job and I didn't have negative money so I could have long and beautiful eyelashes. I'm thinking about making a stop by Sephora tomorrow and buying fake/cheap lashes just to fulfill this obsession till I have money again...like in a year...sad. Oh that day when I  get my first big girl paycheck as a nurse is going to be joyous. In the meantime I'm going to wait till I get my tax return back, which is going to be waaayyyyyy more than I expected (woo woo!! and now I don't have to get a job next semester thank goodness!) so I can purchase a ticket to Mexico. Who's coming with me?

Took a test on Monday. Seriously thought I was going to bomb it. Like a 30%.

Got my grade and shockingly got an 87%.

And it just went up again to a 92%! Thanks to a crazy and confused old teacher we like to call Big Bird.

Best news of the week. It's going to be a great weekend.

General Conference

Another Conference weekend gone. I love Conference weekend and I always look forward to it. It always helps me get through the next 6 months of my life. I loved so many talks but one that I absolutely loved is by Elder Kent F. Richards called The Atonement Covers All Pain. Here is the little section that is my favorite:

I have noted that children are often more naturally accepting of pain and suffering. They quietly endure with humility and meekness. I have felt a beautiful, sweet spirit surrounding these little ones.

Thirteen-year-old Sherrie underwent a 14-hour operation for a tumor on her spinal cord. As she regained consciousness in the intensive care unit, she said: “Daddy, Aunt Cheryl is here, … and … Grandpa Norman … and Grandma Brown … are here. And Daddy, who is that standing beside you? … He looks like you, only taller. … He says he’s your brother, Jimmy.” Her uncle Jimmy had died at age 13 of cystic fibrosis.

“For nearly an hour, Sherrie … described her visitors, all deceased family members. Exhausted, she then fell asleep.”

Later she told her father, “Daddy, all of the children here in the intensive care unit have angels helping them.” 

To all of us the Savior said:

“Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.

“Fear not, little children, for you are mine. …

“Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd.”

Everytime I read that I get a little teary eyed. Probably cause I'm just a crazy emotional person even though I never used to be like this! I don't know what happened to me but anyways...working at Primary's was the best experience ever. Kids are so amazing and resilient and it's amazing how many miracles happen everyday with them. I couldn't agree more that all those sick kids have little angels helping them. 

I seriously can't wait till next semester when I'll be in peds again! It's crazy that I've been in school for 6 months already. Time is flying by and I'm so happy for that. I hope these next 10 months go by just as fast. I'm already half way through 2nd semester and things are finally starting to slow down a bit, thank goodness! I can actually take a day off now and not feel guilty. But I'm sooooooo looking forward to Spring Break in t-minus 7 days!! All that's on my agenda is laying out and enjoying the sunshine!