What happens on runs...

It was an afternoon last week.
I was in the middle of my routine run in los gatos.
However on this particular day i decided that rather than jog the last 1 1/2 as i normally do, i decided that i was going to really push myself and run that last stretch hard.
As i began running faster and faster i felt good. i liked the feeling of running harder. the ipod was set to Katy Perry's ET and i was on a roll.
roughly a mile into it i was still going strong. i was running steadfast to the beat of the music and my breathing was in sync.
Then out of nowhere, something to this effect happened:


It was pretty bad. i stopped running, caught my breath, and then was pretty grossed out because i think it was a big bug.
All that to say, my adventures in los gatos continue

disciplined?

i was reading a book the other day and in it i found a quote that really stuck with me:

"feelings come and feelings leave you, but the disciplines of life are what get you to where you want to go."-Anne Ortland

i've been thinking about this phrase quite a bit lately and realize that this just may be a breakthrough for me. . . . . maybe what i would like to call one of the secrets to life. or my life anyway.
I realize that discipline is something i want in many areas of my life but yet it's something i lack when the going gets tough, or maybe when i'm no longer feeling like being disciplined. 
to me, being disciplined can also coincide with sticking to my convictions and really living out what i believe in. 
its far to easy to just say "no i give up." or "eh, i don't really feel like it."
you see discipline in successful people. because these are the people who follow through with their commitments, who keep their convictions, and who do what they know they should even though they may not feel like it today.


just some food for thought.

Although I didn't find a Leprechaun....

No Leprechaun was found on St. Patty's day. So the little man with the kilt and the bagpipe would have to suffice...

With that said, St Patrick's day=Success.

The day after =Success.

I'll admit, I was a little tired the day after {the Irish Car Bombs didn't help}, especially because I was scheduled to be at work at 7 am. But as tired as I was, I busted through the day like a champ.

2 o'clock rolls around and I go on my last break for the day with only one hour of work left.

Out of habit I checked my phone which had a new voicemail left by my Gramps. 

His news? The results of my nursing state board exam had finally come in mail!

I'll admit, the concept of being patient is a struggle for me.

I want and I want now. 

So you can imagine how I felt after waiting almost 4 weeks for these test results. I really thought I was going to lose my mind if they didn't come soon.

I couldn't even wait to get off work to know how I did. I called my Gramps right then and there, had him open the letter for me and read it over the phone. It read:

Elyse L. McDonald has PASSED

YAY! 

So although I didn't find a leprechaun, I am officially a nurse :)

And that was only the beginning of a great weekend 

I think I'm in love with a Leprechaun ...

... No I'm not really in love with a Leprechaun. 

{but i could be if he came with a pot of gold ;) haha jk jk}

but in honor of St. Patrick's day I'll just say that I am.

I'll also eat Corned Beef & Cabbage with the fambam, drink green beer, and go to an Irish pub. 

And Brit will take pictures so we've got that covered.

Then I'll then i'll be at work at 7 am tomorrow morning where maybe 2 other people would have celebrated St. Patrick's day

:D

RE-VAMMMMMP

Readers  
[lol, well the few that I have left, because, i'll admit, i've been LAME and totally slacking with Elyse Episodes].
Dear, Dear, Readers:

Good News...I would like to inform you that elysepisodes.blogspot.com is once again up and running and that we are undergoing what we like to call REEEEEEE-VAMPING (yayaya). Basically, this means that the blog will be changing here and there based on what i feel like. lol. and being that I have a hard time making up my mind about things like 'the layout of my blog', i think that RE-VAMPING is just what comes with the territory...at least until I can make up my mind about it :D
so with that said, we got some Big things coming: the good, the bad, and the ugly. lol  ;)
All my Love;
-elyseeeee

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 :)

I'm Baaaaaack....

i've been slacking BIG TIME on keeping up with this thang.

lately not having enough time has been the story of my life. lol

but all that to say....i finished LVN school which means i got my life back and am ready to tear it up again.

Its officially the Holiday season which brings with it a lot of really awesome things:

A} Christmas. Who doesn't love it? Its Jesus's b-day, its being around family, its all kinds of really fun parties (including ugly sweater parties), a decorated house, pretty dresses, egg nog, and presents :) ...

B} Snow. Yep, i'm planning on shredding the gnar all winter long with my new jacket and good friends. Dodge, Tahoe, here we come.

C} New Years. I really never thought 2011 would ever come. It was the year I was supposed to graduate college, and 4 years ago 2011 seems FOREVER away. but here it is, right around the corner. As far as New Years Resolutions go....ehhhh, i'm no good at keeping them but i'll try again this year. lol

7 Things I Want to Be...

Some Things I want to be Someday....

• Wound Care/ Old folks/ OR Nurse (obbbvuously. Sheesh)
• Sew-er/Designer: a person that designs clothes and then sews them. And not a seamstress because that name sounds old. I mean after all, age is a sensitive subject...i'm almost 21, Plus, i've always wanted to work retail
• Country Singer: I would put on an awesome concert. Just ask my Freshman Roomies :)
• Certified Group Instructor: yea, lets get paid to workout and be peppy. "Exercise gives you endorphin's. Endorphin's make  you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands. They just don't."-Elle Woods
• Craft Shop Owner: i like crafts. I could do them all day long.
• Writer: It would be reallllly cool to write a best seller. Like Twilight or something...
• Cowgirl: I like horses. and cowboy boots. and southern accents. I think that's a sign.
• Tan: I want to be tan. Spray tan, fake'n'bake. who cares.

Story of A Little Friend...

I have a friend. 

Its a good friend.

Somewhat of a comfort blanket. 

I usually carry it with me in my purse, my car, and in times where a possible scuffle could occur. 

One Christmas, I opened my stocking to find my little friend all gift wrapped and looking pretty.

That was the begining of a beautiful relationship.

Pepper spray.

To tell you the truth, I havn't used it yet; Which is a blessing, although I am itching to use it.

I think my dad regrets ever giving me the pepper spray after I almost accidentally used it on him once.

But I didn't!

One night at like 2 am or something, I wake up to a dim light on downstairs. 

I got up, grabbed my pepper spray (which was so conveniently placed under my pillow), and slowly descended down the stairs.

"Hellllllo?!?" I yell as I continued down the stairs.

No answer.

Then without any warning, out of the room comes my dad who is shocked to see me let alone with my pepper spray in hand.

"Get that thing out of my face!" He yells. 

I guess I don't blame him for being startled. 

But none the less, safety first.

The next Christmas I asked for a tazer.

He said no.

You can imagine how awesome it is that Pop's signed my mom, sister, and I up for a

Womans Handgun Course. 

This should be fun.

:)

new book

ok so i am definitely reading a new book.

it is life changing

:)

and that BIG for me to say because I rarely read for leisure 

(as Tirzah noted) hehe 

...

anyway, so i'm reading through this awesome book and in it, i came across a Note called "Just for Today"

and i thought it was so cool that i'm posting it on my mirror (yea, i'm a nerd like that) ...

...and i'm sharing it with you

...enjoy.

1. Just for today, I will be happy. This assumes to  be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that "most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."  Happiness is from within; it is not a matter of externals.

2. Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my family, business and luck as they come and fit myself to them.

3. Just for today I will take care of my body. I will excercise it, care for it, nourish it, not abuse nor neglect it, so that it will be a perfect machine for my bidding. 

4. Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind.  I will study. I will learn something useful.  I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.  

5. Just for today, I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and  not get found out. I will do at least two  things I don't want to--just for exercise. 

6. Just for today, I will be agreeable. I will look  as well as I can, dress becomingly as possible, talk low, act courteously, be liberal with praise, critisize not at all, nor find fault with anything and not try to improve or regulate anyone. 

7. Just for today, I will try to live through this day only,  and not tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to  keep it up for a lifetime.     

8. Just for today, I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.  

9. Just for today, I will have a quiet half hour all by myself, and relax. During this half hour sometimes I will think of God so as to get a little more perspective
 into my life.  

10. Just for today, I will be unafraid. Especially I  will not be afraid to be happy, to enjoy what is beautiful, to love and to believe that those I love most, love me.

renaissance fair

today i got invited to a renaissance fair.

to be honest, after hearing what a renaissance fair has to offer, I have a feeling it's not my cup of tea.

the person trying to sell me on the idea of this renaissance fair wasn't exactly getting the hint that i'm not extremely interested in going. 

The more they told me about it, the more i am convinced its the last place i want be.

they were telling me their experiences at this fair in an Irish accent which definitely made it even harder to take seriously. 

but i guess thats how they talk at the "Ren Fair": in Irish accents. 

and apparently there are "all kinds of gorgeous men that come up to you, put their arms around you and dip you into a passionate kiss."

Haha! what? that has creeper written all over it! 

 If you've ever seen the movie Role Models,  you know how awkward Zanthia is.

Yea, that's how this renaissance fair sounded verrrrry familiar to Zanthia.

Bad Tats

Things to do when you are bored at school:

Google Image "Bad Tattoo's"

my favorite:

Fifteen

Fifteen.

It's a song that T Swift wrote,

It's the age my dad would let me go driving without a license :)

It's as high as I can count in Dutch.

But the most exciting part about fifteen is...

that I only have 15 weeks of LVN school left!

i have a countdown (which i'm holding in the picture) hanging in my room of how many weeks of school i have left. lol

And I'm sure that Tirzah would love the fact that this last stretch of school is focused on Maternity and Babies!

hah! its true sis. You should have seen me give an assessment on a pregnant woman's belly. 

You would have laughed. 

Work

"All work and no play Johnny becomes a boring boy."
Gramps told me that not too long ago.


This evening we had a guest for dinner. Gramps gave this guest a little piece of his mind.


The guest complemented Gramps on how well he has done for himself and his family.
Gramps replied, "I've worked hard. No one in my family has gone in need. I make sure of that."


It was really cool to hear my Gramps say that, because its so true. He makes sure that his family is taken care of. I like that.  


He knows the meaning of having nothing.
He knows the meaning of working hard.
And he knows the reward of hard work.


His story is inspiring.
hah.
Sometimes little stories like his are all it takes to get the Mojo back.
:)

Dear Natalie

Modern Family=Goodness


And I am proud to say that I am responsible for a new Modern Family Follower :)