Grey Area

today i learned a BIG lesson.
it was the kind of lesson that completely changed my perspective on issues i feel very passionate about.


yesterday these issues would have been, in my opinion, black and white. "It's either wrong or right."
today, my perspective on these this topic migrated to the Grey Area..somewhere i thought i'd NEVER be as far as this topic was concerned.
Its funny how after seeing a new viewpoint things aren't so black and white as they used to be.


Whenever in a debate, Steve always tells me to try and understand the viewpoint of the opposing argument.
after today, i am going to try and do that in every argument.


with that said, i hope i never forget how blessed i am. Lord thank you for all your blessings.

If you cant Tone it, Tan it

tanning.
its my guilty pleasure.
but i love it.
I love to have that summer glow.
I love listening to country music while i lay there.
I love the smell of coconut oil.
Its peaceful, relaxing, and it sounds weird i know, but it just makes me feel...happy?
haha. sounds so weird, but you'll just have to trust me.

So lately i've been getting my tan on.
I don't do anything fancy. I just lay for 6 minutes in a regular 20 minute max bed.
{For those who don't know the tanning lingo, 6 minutes is not a long time at all}

However, the other day, after a 6 minute sesh,
i noticed that i was a little sunburned.
Which i thought was really strange because i didn't think i went long enough to get burned.
weird, but oh well. lol
Today i went and did another 6 minutes.
I walked into the salon and the girl at the counter asks "6 mintues in a regular bed?"
"yep"
"ohhhhh...hmmm...."she looks at her computer. "oh my god....", she said.
thats never a good sign.
She continues, "I am really really sorry. But when you came 3 days ago the girl working put you in for 6 minutes in a Speed Bed. The max time you can spend in a Speed Bed is 10 minutes. I am so so sorry. She's new here. Where you sunburned at all?"

haha! so the sunburn is explained...
i pretty much went double the amount of time i usually spend in a tanning bed.
to be honest, it kinda freaks me out that she messed up like that. lol.

on that note,

i'm reconsidering my guilty pleasure...

New Years 2011

This post is a little Belated...

but better late that never.

So New Years Weekend 2011 was such a fun weekend spent in 

Tahoe/Truckee in an amazing cabin with good people. 

It consisted of snowboarding, beautiful views, some gambling {hehe}, good conversation, and only the best music....Country that is...   :)

{i had to teach these city folk a thing or two about country music. slackers}

To start off the weekend we rolled up to this awesome 'cabin' in truckee {if you call a 3 story, huge house with an indoor hot tub a cabin...}. We were the first people to use it for the season so we were the ones designated to "de-winterize" it. lol...

there were 6 of us total. 2 girls, 4 boys. yes, you can imagine. Us girls had the food situation, the cooking and cleaning taken care of. So naturally, we one would assume that the boys would have minor things like turning the hot water heater on, getting the gas turned on, and the fireplaces and furnaces to work. Right? wrong. lol

The boys couldn't figure out how to de-winterize the house so they went up to the mountain for some boarding to think things through.

haha

meanwhile...Joycie and I not only prepared dinner but managed to turn on the heat, water heater and the gas! psh....yesssssss

Joyce and I have come to the conclusion that together, we could run a pretty legit business.

So NYE rolls around and we decided to go to Reno.

Which was legit but PACKED! 

The countdown was great. 

it consisted of being shoulder to shoulder on the street, drink in hand, an amazing fireworks show, and about 6 below zero. lol

but it was really so much fun

We spent the rest of the night and morning {we got back at 6AM!!!} in the casinos.

at one point in the night Joyce and I were at a craps table 

watching our friends play.

While we were standing there with the others lost in their game 

some things went down...

1) some REALLY drunk girl walks past us with her friends. She looks at us, we look at her. Out of nowhere she turns around and starts screaming about how we gave her a bad look while her friends hold her back. lol....uhhhh ok.

2) Shortly thereafter we saw another really drunk girl following who we assumed to be her boyfriend yelling at him, pushing him and slapping him across the face. lol. wow. Joyce made one of her smart alec comments about the girl. again, out of NOWHERE, we heard a voice behind us say, "What did you say about my girlfriend." we turn around and standing right behind us is some creeper hick guy in a hat. WTF mate.

The situation was quickly diffused by Joyce, who's smart mouth shut the guy down in a matter of seconds.

3)We saw another really drunk girl trip down the stairs due to really high heels. lol

time to go.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was still very lost in their craps game.
haha.
a good weekend.

New Discovery...

...

it's a little thing we like to call

the Latte

 haha. i know, i know...i'm a little out of date with my discovery.

For christmas I was given a frother in my stocking.

Today i was in my appartment unpacking some things

and out of the box comes the frother.

{the term 'frother' is just funny to me. 

everytime i say it i feel awkward. lol. frother.}

I held the frother {hehe} for a minute and reminiced a time

when i lived in sonoma when Nat and I 

had a few jokes regaurding a frother we stumbled upon 

in our kitchen.

after my 15 seconds down memory lane i decided to get some use

out of my new frother.

the end result was what we like to call an Elyse Latte 

{which includes lots of sugar}

.

in a nutshell....it's awesome.

:)

Nothing Good Happens after 11

I guess part of being a real adult requires me to have a real job with hours that can seem a little un-godly.

and trust me, i know the meaning of bad hours but these ones top it off.

Lately i've been working the night shift (11 PM-7 AM) and all i can say is that its true when they say that "nothing good ever happens after 11".

Its true...people just get crazy at night, especially old people.

The typical night of a night shift worker where i work goes like this:

• get to work at 11
• answer call lights all night long
• do last rounds at 5 AM (which keeps you pretty busy)
• leave at 7 AM

Well the other night at work was no typical night. I experienced one of those "CRAZY NIGHTS".

One of those nights when really, nothing good happened after 11.

It went a little something like this:

• got to work at 11
• Went to answer a call light immediately after I clocked in

I walked into the Patients room.

"Can I help you?"- i ask

"I need to talk to Jon."- he says {'Jon' is the charge nurse}

"Ok, i'll get him for you". I start to walk out of the room...

"Tell him I need to.... that I need to stick something up my rectum!!!"

• I stopped dead in my tracks....lol....did i really just hear that? lol. really? Oh Gosh, i don't even want to know what that's about....From down the hall I hear a patient moaning as if he's in pain. I walk into his room to find him   rolling on his bed.

"Sir can I help you with anything?"

he's still rolling in his bed.

"Yea!....ahhh my ass, my ass! ahhhhh i just need to S***! Give me something to make me S***!! AHHH!!!!" he yells

"Yea, ok, i'll get the nurse..."

Needless to say that patient got transferred to the hospital later that evening for extreme constipation.

•  Last rounds at 5 AM
• Got called Crazy by a little old lady
• clocked out at 7 AM 

lol. SO yeaaaa.....what a night...I'm now convinced that really, nothing good happens after 11, especially at work.

The Things I did...

2010.

What can I say, It was one of the most memorable years of my life.
and I know people say that about every year, but I can confidently say that 2010 was a year that goes down in Elyse's history books.
This year consisted of experiences that stretched me to limits I didn't know that I had. lol
seriously.
2010 is the year I became an adult which is a little exciting and a little scary at the same time.
Not to long ago I was telling someone that you know you're an adult when there's not enough time in a day.
haha... and so it begins...
With that said....farewell 2010, you were good to me. I've lived a lot and learned even more. I can't wait to see what 2011 will bring me :D

Highlights of 2010:

* Started nursing school

* Loved Someone

* Woke up at 4am to study

* Took an INCREDIBLE family vacation to Mazatlan, Mexico

* Was given the opportumity to live with my gramps who is nothing short of a badass

* Read some great books (how to win friends and influence people, how to stop worrying and start living {lol i know they sound cheesy but they are so good!}, blue like jazz)

* Wore a short dress...only to find out later that it was actually intended to be a long shirt. lol...embarrassing

* Saw a bear

* Felt the sting of a broken heart

* Turned 21!

* Drank to much...lol

* Leanred the meaning of Grace

* Became a runner

* Made some lifelong friends

*Got a nephew

* Learned to TRUST Jesus. It's amazing how things pull together when you learn to trust in him.

* Became a nurse

So here I am.... I survived the CRAZIEST year yet and i'm ready for a new one with more expeditions and adventures :)