jack and kim

grandpa and his boys

2012-02-19T14:04:00.002-07:00

the boys absolutely love their great-grandpa! he is the nicest papa around. he always has treats for them and is always happy to pet them. they sure love their papa, and he absolutely loves them back.

hike with the boys

2012-02-18T21:49:00.002-07:00

we went on a nice afternoon hike today. it was gorgeous! the weather could not have been better! jamie and baxter came with us. we had such a blast.

gus loves to explore

jack loves to play with his rock in the weeds

i finally got him to pose for me. his rock not far away at any moment

jack and gus loved playing in the water

gus constantly on the go. what a great day!

nice day for a hike.....

2012-02-08T18:19:00.002-07:00

i am not going to lie, this winter has been absolutely fantastic! i love snow in the mountains and not in the valley. today the weather was great and we headed out for a hike. it was perfect.

gus absolutely loves to hike, and LOVES the snow. happy happy boy

leave it to jack to find some water on our hike. he loves to play in the water and to play with rocks. he was so happy today.

seriously? life of a nurse

2012-02-02T20:49:00.002-07:00

so today at work i had a patient say to me, "i would like to say something to you, but i don't want you to be offended" to which i responded, "go ahead". he then said, "you remind me of my sister. she is a snotty bitch!". wow. i asked him why he would call me that and he said "because of the way you move your eyes and your voice". ok. whatever. people.amaze.me!! i have honestly never had a patient say anything like that to me. of course I don't believe him. . oh well. life goes on. obviously he did not offend me. this is the life of an er nurse.

i love the snow!

2012-01-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

it has taken months this season. months. we finally got a couple inches of snow at our house and jack could not be more excited! every hour of every day he wants to be outside playing fetch in the snow or playing with his rock in the snow. it is pure happiness to see him out there.

he is so dang handsome! he was having a blast with his rock

of course i had to buy him orange tennis balls to play with. they even squeak! just enough to drive anyone crazy! he absolutely loves them.

helping mommy make cookies!

2012-01-20T21:43:00.003-07:00

i have the best little helper on earth! as soon as i started making cookies, jack came in to help. he absolutely loves to be around when i am making yummy things. especially my FAMOUS chocolate chip cookies. he sits patiently as i sample the dough. (i have to make sure it isn't poisonous!) and, of course, it never is. it is absolutely scrumptious!

after all that cooking, he took a much needed break on the couch! i completely love my jacky wacky!

caribbean week 3. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-12-24T20:57:00.036-07:00

week 3 started out great. we went to crew bingo night. what a complete blast!! how did i not know about this before? i had so much fun.

grand turk was rainy today. however, that did not keep me from the beach. i went and collected some more sea glass and just enjoyed walking with my feet in the warm water

it was cooler today, but still felt fantastic.

we had high seas today. this view is out the port hole in the doc's office. normally the water is below the window. not today.

working in the doc's office

sailing into san juan, pr. this is the fort in old town

such beautiful scenery

more old fort

i am loving the colors here

more beautiful colors

views from the top of the hill

the ocean was angry today and the wind was blowing hard

a cemetary on the seashore

i wondered what would happen during a hurricane with a cemetary right there.

i was windblown. seriously crazy weather here today

stunning beauty all around me

me at the fort in old san juan

happy colorful buildings

christmas in san juan, pr

night lights in san juan

that is jeremy. he is gay. apparently when he is drunk he is not gay.

allister and i hanging out in san juan. we had so much fun. i introduced him to cold stone. he may now be addicted.

really?

watching the gangway show. honestly one of the funniest things i have ever seen. we tell everyone when we are leaving port and then we go up and watch as they run to the ship to try to make it before they close the gangway. the best part? the princess ship across the pier whose passengers cheered like football fans as the people ran like hell to make the ship. so incredibly funny!

peter and robin also enjoyed the gangway show

medical center christmas party. what a complete blast. we invited crew from all over the ship to celebrate the season with us. (krista, alvin, linda, me, jo, and elizabeth)

allister and i at the party

robin and i having a blast

david and i. he was one of my favorite people on the ship. he is the art director and such a fun guy

bahamas, take 3. so gorgeous

what a great day. i love it here

this is shep the service dog and i. he made my week. he helped me not to miss jack quite as much

the medical team enjoying time together in the crows nest on our last night. (elizabeth, jo, me, krista, and linda)

allister and i in the crows nest. what a great 3 weeks. i have had a complete blast. it has been a great learning experience, but also a ton of fun. i love being a cruise ship nurse. i am so stinkin lucky!

personal bridge tour. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-12-18T20:13:00.027-07:00

i got permission from Bas the first officer on the eurodam for a personal photography tour of the bridge. i absolutely love the bridge and wanted to get some good shots of it. as you can see, i got plenty

today, the quartermasters had clear skies as they watched for anything that was out of the ordinary.

the steering wheel of the ship. hmmm. i always thought they were bigger!

they even decorated the bridge for christmas

that is re-enforced glass on the floor of the bridge (8th floor of the ship). they use that to assist them to park the ship when they are in port. it was extremely scary looking down to the ocean below

the 3rd officer MADE me step on it. i was holding onto that rail until he told me to let go. i honestly was scared to death. the ocean is far below and we are moving pretty fast right now. it would be certain death if that blasted glass didn't hold up.....

what a stunning day in the middle of the atlantic

they talked me into a pic of myself....

they needed someone to drive the ship while they took pictures!

there is that scary floor glass again. eek how do they do this?

shhhh. don't tell anyone.

what a great personal tour. it is so beautiful up here. maybe i should re-think my career choice and learn to drive the ship instead of saving lives.

caribbean week 2. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-12-17T19:40:00.049-07:00

the medical team decided to enjoy a fantastic dinner at the tamarind on the night of our embarkation from fort lauderdale. paula, alvin, myself, jo, and linda had a great time. for my appetizer i ate the chicken pho soup which i think is quite possibly one of the best tasting foods on earth! then i enjoyed pot stickers and a filet mignon which was just divine.

allister and i hanging out on the lido. we had so much fun together

the weather in grand turk today was beautiful. i enjoyed my time on the beach. one of the other nurses, krista had told me about there being tons of sea glass on the beach here and so i spent a majority of my time walking up and down the beach collecting green, orange, and blue sea glass. i plan on making some jewelry out of it. it is really cool

the water was amazing here.

i love the beach

i can't believe how many different colors the water is. it is so crazy to me.

i saw this cute pup on the beach. he was having a blast and i got my fill of dog. i am missing jack like crazy, so it was nice to be able to pet him

boats on the beach, grand turk

on the pier heading back to the ship. what a fun day

san juan, pr. beautiful colorful buildings.

same church, different week.

i can't possibly get enough of these cool buildings

gecko hanging out in st thomas

views on my way to magens bay in st thomas

me hanging out in magens bay

its christmas in the caribbean!!

jo (passenger doc) and i heading to work in the clinic in half moon cay, bahamas.

just hanging out in the medical center

scenes from the bahamas

i LOVE it here. stunning!!

view of the ship from here. i could stay here forever

beautiful! the water color is simply amazing

didn't i just say this???

this is the medical center on the island

the doc and i hard at work. this is a painful job, but somebody has to do it.

view from the medical center

what a great week. so, i had so much fun this week that i decided to fill a fireman alert and stay here an extra week. yay!

caribbean week 1. life of a cruise ship nurse.

2011-12-10T18:43:00.077-07:00

prior to getting on the eurodam for another fun-filled cruise adventure, my friends kristin, monika, and i played for a day in miami. we went to the bayside marketplace and had a fantastic dinner and enjoyed some gelato. we had a great time.

saturday december 3rd was embarkation day. we headed to the ship in fort lauderdale via tour bus in the early morning hours. once on the ship, i was able to get settled and find monika.

sunday was a sea day. i love sea days for how relaxing they are. i did some work in the medical center this morning. we did random drug and alcohol testing with the security officers. i had a great time talking to them. i think this will be a fun cruise. tonight they had an event in the o.b. (officers bar) called sinterklaas. it is a dutch holiday where santa comes and fills the dutch shoes with presents. the crew members gave each other gifts. it was a lot of fun to watch. monika and i met a guy named allister. he is a really nice guy. tomorrow i am on first call and we are in port in grand turk.

grand turk looks great from the ship!

next week i will be swimming in this beautiful water. can't wait.

today we were in san juan and i was on 3rd call! yay. monika and i were able to get off the ship and we had a great time exploring.

old san juan had tons of colorful fun buildings and cobblestone streets. i loved it

i could not stop taking pictures. so many beautiful things to see

i also loved all the window boxes with the amazing flowers.

so much to look at in san juan

some of the window boxes were very unique. i would love for our buildings in the u.s. to have more character

we hiked up a hill from the port. i couldn't wait to see what was on the other side.

me in san juan, pr

we were not disappointed with the absolute beauty that we found at the top of the hill. it was so stunning. i could literally have sat there all day and never gotten bored at the views. it was so gorgeous and we could not have asked for a more perfect day.

we then explored the fort in old san juan.

a view from the top of the fort

the ocean was putting on a show for us today. it is just spectacular here

more beautiful san juan. i love it here

san juan church

this honestly is a rolex billboard hanging on a building. but i love it. i live for this message. be great!

we ran into allister in san juan today. we had a great time hanging out with him and then went up to the bow of the ship for san juan sail away. what a great day!

while in st thomas today, monika and i went shopping. it was not my favorite thing to do, since it was shop after shop of the same cheap souvenir's. but it was still nice to get out and walk around for a while. then we went up to the 9th floor and watched the views. this picture of allister and monika is honestly one of my favorites. i love catching people in a natural state. it is beautiful to me

allister, monika, and i having a blast on the 12th floor. we sat and talked for hours. good times

amazing scenery as we left st thomas

i love the ship wreck.

i honestly could never tire of these kinds of views.

sailboats and palm trees. some of my favorite things

sunset as we left st thomas. what a stunning view. my favorite part is the sun shining on the water. i love how it peeked through the clouds to make that spotlight on the water.

last view of the sunset leaving st thomas. tomorrow is another sea day.

on our last full day on the ship, we were in port in half moon cay which is holland america's private island. i was on 1st call again which prevented me from leaving the ship. next week for sure!

this was a great week. i enjoyed working with the other nurses and the doc was fantastic. can't wait for another good week.

Jack is an Addison Dog

2011-10-02T12:16:00.002-06:00

my sweet boy jack started getting sick 1 and 1/2 weeks ago. It started with vomiting and progressed rapidly to lethergy, lack of appetite, and tremors. jack lost 9lbs. it was obvious jack felt sick. he was weak. he was disinterested in everything i tried to do to encourage him. i was worried sick. i was scared to death. i could not imagine my life without my sweet boy. he was so young at heart just 9 days ago and now he was an old man. what is going on?

i took jack to two different vets to figure out what could be wrong with the boy. he had blood drawn, iv's placed, x-rays. the poor boy was getting poked and prodded all over.

jack wouldn't look at me as i left him at the vet. he felt like i was betraying him. poor little guy

jack has never been so skinny. his little gut was sunken in and he actually had a cute little waist line. i wish he didn't

poor little jack with his iv in place

you can tell jack is sick. he has no sparkle in his eyes. he has no energy at all. he looks miserable

oh my poor baby. even sick he is the most handsome dog on earth

jackie was diagnosed with addisons disease 9 days after getting sick. addisons is an endocrine disorder that affects so many things. really to get a good grip on the disease, you just need to google primary addisons disease. as you can see, once we started treatment the sparkle in his eyes returned. he is almost back to his old self.

he is so happy! he will be on prednisone and procortin for the rest of his life, but once controlled addisons is an easy disease to live with.

my boy is BACK!!!

and he loves those rocks! i am so incredibly grateful for all the prayers and support sent our way for the last 9 days. it has been a roller-coaster, but now that we know what is wrong we can treat it and he can live a long healthy life.

i will never forget....

2011-09-11T21:36:00.004-06:00

all pictures taken by me in september 2001.

i was in the world trade center at the exact moment they were hit. only it was one week prior to sept 11, 2001. on tuesday sept 4, 2001 my friends and i were heading to the statue of liberty. we had taken the subway to the world trade center stop and were leaving the building about 0845 in the morning. as we left the building, i looked up. i could not believe the magnitude of these buildings. they were so tall that you had to bend backwards to see the top. i remember thinking that we should go to the top. but we didn't. i told myself, "next trip". little did i know there would not be another chance.

everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the grim news. i was sleeping. my mom called me and her only words were, 'turn on the tv'. i jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. i watched in horror as america was attacked. i was sick to my stomach. i was crying. my heart broke. new york is my home and it was being attacked. we were being attacked. i ached for the people of new york. the people that i had come to love. i ached for america. i prayed that people everywhere would be comforted through this devestating time.

at the statue of liberty facing downtown manhattan.

this was taken to capture the short red building. i had no idea until it was developed that i had both the north and south tower of the world trade center in my picture. they were enormous.

view from the empire state building

i feel so patriotic. i love the good old U S of A. sept 11 made me even prouder to be an american. through the trajedy, i saw people come together. it gave me hope. americans are strong.

i am proud to be an american. where at least i know i am free.

after watching all of the 10th anniversary tributes, i feel hope. i feel hope for america and hope for our future. may god bless america now and always

this is one of my favorite pictures and is quite possibly the most epic historic photograph taken in my lifetime. i am thankful for the police and firefighters. may god bless them. i am thankful for their sacrifice on this day and always.

life of a cruise ship nurse-naples, italy

2011-08-16T20:53:00.000-06:00

naples, italy today. i explored all by myself. i had a great time. it is a big city, similar to nyc. so, you know i loved it

naples is the birthplace of pizza. i had the most delicious pizza there today.

life of a cruise ship nurse-cantania, italy

2011-08-15T20:31:00.013-06:00

welcome to cantania, italy! we took the train to taormina for the day. what a great decision! it was spectacular there

view of cantania from the port

the volcano is steaming

views from taormina. so gorgeous here

i love it here

stunning views

i was so happy to be in taormina. it is so beautiful here. so much to see

our friends mcdavid and his mom, christy and me. what a great day

life of a cruise ship nurse-santorini, greece

2011-08-14T19:29:00.029-06:00

oh santorini, greece how i love you! santorini has been my dream vacation for the whole of my life. it did not disappoint. warning, there are tons of pictures. tons.

heading to santorini on the tender

people said it looked like snow at the top of the mountain. nope, that is santorini

this is fira.

more fira

we took a bus to oia which is famous for it's white buildings with blue rooftops.

hot and humid here today

it is so beautiful here

everywhere in santorini is a photo op

oia, santorini, greece. it is everything i had imagined

amazing views around every turn

i made it to santorini!

the blue water with the white walls is amazing

the poor donkey's. they take tourists up and down the steep hills of santorini. i felt so sorry for them. it was so hot and they just kept working. poor little things.

i climbed down these stairs. scariest thing ever. the stairs were steep and slick and covered in donkey dung. i did NOT want to fall on these stairs.

indian independence day celebration with christy, kevin and christy lundgren.

life of a cruise ship nurse-argostoli, greece

2011-08-13T19:20:00.002-06:00

welcome to argostoli, greece. another hot and humid gorgeous day.

i love the blue with the white. so stunning

we're going there next!

life of a cruise ship nurse-corfu, greece

2011-08-12T19:11:00.001-06:00

my first time in greece! today we enjoyed corfu. again, there are tons of pics. i don't have much to say, the pics say it all

i loved all the motorcycle's

life as a cruise ship nurse-dubrovnik, croatia

2011-08-11T18:47:00.014-06:00

my first time in dubrovnik, croatia was amazing. i love it here. it is simply gorgeous! warning, there are a lot of pics!

christy and kevin lundgren and christy and i hanging in dubrovnik

i am loving this. it is so beautiful. it is hot and humid however. i need to find myself some more gelato....

after a fun day in dubrovnik

sailing out of dubrovnik

me in uniform

life as a cruise ship nurse-venice, italy

2011-08-10T21:01:00.030-06:00

i am in venice, italy about to embark on the ms nieuw amsterdam for another fun-filled couple weeks as a cruise ship nurse. i am so stinkin excited for this cruise. it should be great. however, because of rules,

i did not know if i would have another chance to get into venice before we sailed, so my friend christy and i awakened bright and early and headed into venice at 5am. there was nobody around. it was nice to see venice without all the people in my pictures.

venice is a gorgous city

venice is slowly waking up

very cool way of carrying your load. i don't know if i could do it

venice was amazing. i loved this door

the sun is finally coming up. we had to be to the ship by 9am, so our early morning was rushed.

little did i know that i would be able to get back off the ship later that same afternoon. christy and i enjoyed some delicious gelato. i am in love.

the sun is setting on a fantastic day in venice

lots of people out and about now in venice

deserted courtyard as the day was about to end

i love seening how people live.

sunset in venice

gondola in venice

i had to prove that i was there!

venice sail away. stunning views as we head out of town

my first time in venice was absolutely fantastic. i had a complete blast! can't wait to come back someday.

heading to the med

2011-08-07T14:25:00.018-06:00

today i flew on a direct flight from slc to paris, france. so incredibly cool that they have a direct flight to europe from slc. it is a 10 hour flight. but, I had a handsome frenchman to sit next to, so it worked out well. after a 4 hour layover in paris we were on our way to venice. i was on the right side of the plane, because as we took off, i saw the eiffel tower. i had never been to paris before, so i am happy that i got to at least see the eiffel tower from the airplane. next stop, venice!!

victoria, bc. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-05-28T23:01:00.012-06:00

empress hotel, bc

our first stop was the sticky wicket pub for some dinner. i seriously had thee best fish n chips i have ever had! they were completely delicious. i also ordered strawberry shortcake. yum yum yum!

me, lorrie (lead nurse) and robyn (donna's friend)

love this place. will return someday for more fish n chips

me, lorrie, and robyn

irene (crew doc) and me

robyn and me outside irish pub.

love the night lights on the government building here in victoria

such a gorgeous night

sitka, ak. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-05-26T22:42:00.017-06:00

in the tender on my way to sitka! i sat next to one of the stewards on the ship and we had a great time talking. even though he is giving me a crazy look

coolest thing ever! en route to sitka, there was a seal in the water eating a salmon. obviously the seagull was there for any leftovers.

afterwards he was headed back into the water. seriously made my day to see that!

i made it! i am in sitka!!

russian orthadox church in sitka. there is a large russian influence in sitka

cute building with flowers bloomin

another church

harbor in sitka

sitka.

i love lighthouses.

i could not choose between all the lighthouse pics.

dinner in the italian place on the ship. so yummy. plus a shot of me in my officer uniform

more officer uniform. i am finally legit

juneau, ak. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-05-25T23:23:00.005-06:00

juneau. the sun was shining and it was gorgeous here.

alaska's oldest man-made tourist attraction

there's that tram again. love it

passing by

views across the water from juneau

gorgeous day here today

donna and i walking down main street in juneau

trammmmmms

only the best crab legs i have ever had. ok, the first crab legs i have ever had and they were delicious!

funny story behind this one. we stopped here so donna could get some crab legs. i could not afford them since one order was like $44. we sat at the bar of the shack and i told the guy there had to be a leg that i could have that had been over-cooked. he looked through them all and handed me that one. it was so incredibly good. i loved it. i have a new found love of crab legs. but will probably only eat them on the coast.

tracy's crab shack. best.crab.on.earth.

finally we stopped at the red dog saloon and listened to this grandpa sing and play the piano. i love his tip jars. viagra fund and balding/liver transplant fund.

what a fantastic second day in juneau. what a cute little town.

deja vu. cruise ship life week 2. seattle and glacier bay

2011-05-24T23:52:00.004-06:00

and we are off for our 2nd week aboard the oosterdam. since i was on 3rd call today, i spent the day taking pics of seattle and myself...

going, going

almost gone

we are about to meet the captain at his coctail party. as officers of the ship, we get invited to come and meet some of the passengers. i had a great time

i am in the officers bar. we are cruising in glacier bay and i had to come inside to get warm.

robyn and i. i was teaching her the fine art of the self portrait

bald eagle perched on an iceberg

it was putting on a show for us today

i wanted it to fly away so i could get some shots of it in flight, but it just wanted to watch us as we sailed by

reid glacier

seals sunbathing on the ice in the water. there is way more ice this week than last.......global warming? hmmmm.

first views of the marjorie glacier

when the ice falls it is called calving. it makes a very loud thunderous sound as it falls

passengers taking pics of the glacier

i call this guy's camara 'tiny'. i thought it was so funny that he had this tiny camara with a huge lens.

victoria and seattle. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-05-22T23:39:00.005-06:00

i was on first call today for our stop in victoria so i stayed on the ship. but i did take a moment to get this gorgeous shot of the sunset.

day 7. brenda, christine, dr michael sir and i just before they all got off the ship. it was such a fantastic week. i absolutely loved the people i worked with and had such a great time.

nancy (lead rn), myself, and irene (crew doc). seriously could not have asked for a better team. such great people

today was turn around day in seattle. i was on 3rd call and so i took the day and got some great pics of seattle from the ship. this is magnolia hill.

seattle houses on the hill.

i could totally live here......

i love sailboats.

view of downtown. what a great week. i can't believe how fast it went by! one down and one to go. i could totally get used to this cruise ship life!

ketchikan, ak. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-05-20T23:11:00.023-06:00

ketchikan is one of my favorite little port towns on earth. i know that is quite a bold statement considering i have not seen a lot of them, but it is absolutely adorable!

it was sunny today in ketchikan which only happens about 60 days a year. boy are we lucky!

view of the town from right off the ship.

ok, i had to give ketchikan it's own blog entry because i absolutely could not choose which pics to post. i loved all of them!

sailboats and stores

cool church in ketchikan

famous creek street.

the creek.......i do love the moss growing on the rocks on the side of the creek

view down creek street

hmmmm. this is the married man's trail. this is a secret trail the married men would take to the brothels without their wives knowing.

lots of totem poles in ketchikan

view of the ship

buoy's. never can tell when you might need one.

gorgeous ketchikan

like i said, i could not choose. literally there are more. lots more. i could've made this post much longer.

formal night. peter, brenda, christine, and i at one of the show. what a great day!

juneau and sitka. life of a cruise ship nurse

2011-05-19T23:35:00.036-06:00

mount roberts tram is right off the boat. 1800 feet vertical climb. not going to lie, i was a little nervous

just getting into the station

you can see the ships down in the harbor. great views from up here

i could not get enough of the tram. i loved it

here i am in sitka. well, on the boat near sitka. the captain would not let any crew off the ship today because of rough seas. i was sooooo disappointed! i spent my day taking pics from the ship

hmmm. some really cool mountain near sitka

more shots of sitka

sitka is comprised of multiple little islands. everyone here has a dock. how cool would that be?

there were a ton of bald eagles flying around. they are majestic to watch

just landing

chilling in the tree-tops

i love the eagles. so gorgeous

this morning i awakened to find this love note in my door. james (guitar guy) is not my type. he is maybe in his 50s with crinkly hair and it is unfortunate that because i am a nice person and said hi to him that he mistook that as a flirt. now i have to find a way to avoid him the rest of the trip. rats!

the captain was right. we did have rough waters after leaving sitka. poor brenda was on call and prior to running up to see a patient had to throw up herself. i told her i would not be a true friend unless i took a photo of the nurse being sicker than the patients. poor brenda!

my first cruise....as ship nurse!!!! sunday-tuesday.

2011-05-17T19:58:00.029-06:00

so, i took a job as a part time cruise ship nurse and this is my inaugural cruise. i am on the oosterdam out of seattle, washington going to ALASKA!!!! i have never been to alaska before and could not wait to get going. i had to break my trip up into days (hence this post only covers sun-tues because i have sooooo many pics that it would be too hard in one post.)

gorgeous views of downtown seattle as we departed. the weather cooperated and only the skies were gray.

the views while cruising up to alaska were absolutely spectacular!

i ate lunch with the 2nd nurse brenda and her family christine and peter. they were fantastic! we became instant friends

front of the ship

some fun porpoises that were showing off for us. lots of wildlife around here!

simply amazing

if you look really close, that brown dot you see on the shore is a moose.

not going to lie, i thought of the titanic more than once as we sailed through many icebergs. it sure was freezing cold up here.

this is the reid glacier. you can see the blue hue in the middle of the glacier. this is the smaller of the glaciers we saw.

we saw a bear!!!! this is a brown bear just taking a walk up the coastline

i love bears. so there are tons of pics of the bear

he decided to stand up for us! so cool!

there are a bunch of seals laying out on the rocks there.

the marjorie glacier!!! this is in glacier bay and it is so huge. you can see portions of it falling off into the water and that is called calving. the sound it makes is called white thunder. it is so loud and at times such a huge portion of the ice that it shakes the ship.

had to get the portrait in front of the glacier

this is the icu in the clinic. we can do almost anything there, but don't want to. ;)

my bedroon. it was a decent size and i loved being here. what a great experience i am having. i am so lucky!!! i am having a complete blast. and this is only the beginning!!!

fun times at the tulip fest

2011-05-02T20:55:00.016-06:00

my friend from work and i decided to go to the tulip festival at thanksgiving point. what a great day!

there are a ton of pics because i absolutely love love love flowers.

we have had a really cold and wet spring and so even though it is already may, the trees are still bare. luckily some tulips did pop through for the fest.

imo and i.

coolest upside down tulip ever

sad to still have snow-capped mountains

i am loving these

isn't this just completely gorgeous!!

the battered woman

2011-03-25T21:13:00.002-06:00

day 1

day one. 12 hours later

day 2

day 4

1 week later

2 weeks later

4 weeks later

the accused: gus. but could that innocent looking dog actually do that?

yes he could. 5 weeks ago as i was making my bed, gus ran down the hall and jumped full speed onto my bed.....hitting me in the orbit in the process. he knocked me to the floor. i am lucky the hematoma stayed inside instead of causing massive amounts of bleeding. as you can tell, it has been a long healing process. i still have remnants of a black eye FIVE weeks later. i think he broke my orbit.

my favorite part is the looks that i have been getting for the last 5 weeks. people certainly assume the worst. it has been entertaining to say the least!

Truer words have never been spoken!

2011-03-20T18:17:00.001-06:00

just that. nothing more. it is truth. i love bacon. i could eat it daily. it makes me happy when skies are grey. those who don't love bacon are communists! i am done.

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentines Day! This flower represents one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. My friend Jo at the hospital gave this to me. She is an angel. What a great friend. I only wish everyone could have such a delightfully wonderful friend like I do. Thanks so much Jo!

snow-shoeing Round Valley

2011-02-13T20:41:00.016-07:00

Gus was at an adoption event today so Jack and I decided to head up to Park City snow-shoeing. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with temps in the 40s.

Happy doggy mommy

Jack completely loves to be outside

Such a great day up here today

You can see the canyons ski resort behind me.

We found this random bench in the middle of nowhere. Of course we had to do several shots

I had to run to get in the shot

Brrrrrrrrrr!!!

2011-02-07T21:25:00.001-07:00

Today the wind was blowing. And by blowing, I don't mean blowing.....I mean roaring!!! I don't think I have ever felt more cold in my entire life. It was maybe 2 degrees outside, but with the wind-chill it felt like

-25. You think I am kidding when I put that. I am being completely and freezingly serious.

My dogs have to pee. They do it outside multiple times a day. Can I just say that today was thee most incredibly painful day ever for taking a dog out to pee!

I finally had the ingenious idea of wearing my ski goggles out. It was the best idea of the year. Deserves an award really. I was finally able to open my eyes when we went out. It is nice to be able to see when you take your pups out. Imperative really. Ingenious!

Yep, in case you had already guessed it and you wanted me to just confirm your suspicions, that is frost on my sliding glass doors. FROST! Inside my house! What kind of ridiculous world is this? Yes, it is THAT cold.

Jack and Gus take a bath

2011-02-06T21:20:00.008-07:00

I took Jack and Gus to the groomer and boy do they look good! Jack is just tolerating me here by indulging me in my photo taking habits!

There, that smile is much better than the eye rolling in the above pic

Cute boy being forced against his will into more shots

Cute boys chilling in my room. I LOVE bath day!

Gus's first snow-shoeing experience!

2011-01-31T21:13:00.003-07:00

I took Gus on his first snow-shoeing adventure ever today! Jack has always loved to snow-shoe and I thought Gus would think it was great. I kept Gus on leash at first because I did not know how he would do off leash. I found out the extremely hard way that Gus does fantastically off leash.

Cute Gus having a blast!

Jack is licking his chops for..........something.

Cute boy

Gus and Jack running and having a blast!

Playing together

Gus decided to try a hill.

Jack and Gus found some water to play in. I just think it is a delightful mess. But they LOVE it, so I guess it is worth it

My sweet Jack

2011-01-23T19:52:00.001-07:00

I just felt like I wanted to post some pics of my completely handsome boy Jack. He has had a rough week with the addition of Gus into our lives. He has been through a lot and I think he feels a little unloved. Trust me, he is not unloved. He makes my life worth living. He is so sweet and such a good dog. I am so thankful for him.

He is such a handsome boy

Just about to sneeze when I caught this shot

I love his paws

He can't keep his eyes open due to the flash. Cracks me up

He is the best dog on earth

I love this boy

My sweet dog. What a great boy

Jack and Gus

2011-01-20T19:36:00.002-07:00

The new brothers have an absolute blast playing together!

They love to wrestle

Sometimes it looks like we have a dog-fighting ring at our house, but they are just playing and have a total blast

You can see they love each other

I don't know why it always looks like Jack is the mean one! :)

Cute boys begging for my dinner. Nope, I'm not sharing

Meet Gus!

2011-01-15T19:25:00.001-07:00

Meet Gus! He is my new foster dog and Jack's new younger brother until he finds a forever home. We couldn't help but spring into action when we heard that Gus (who is a one and a half year old lab mix) had been tied to a tree his whole life and was currently outside in (-) 12 degree temps with minimal shelter. So, we went and picked him up.

He has been a great dog! It has not all been perfect. The first couple days, he had some food aggression problems toward Jack, but now they can eat together without any issues.

He really is a handsome boy

What a cutie. He will be even better looking when he puts some weight on his bones. He was not fed or watered regularly and you can see his ribs.

So incredibly sweet!

Gus absolutely loves the rawhide bones!

A new pup

2011-01-14T19:53:00.014-07:00

So, I went and picked up a dog today who needed to be fostered. There was some trouble in paradise. He had some food aggression problems today and attacked Jack several times. Jack is a very docile dog and instead of fighting back, went and hid under the table.

Or hid on Heather's lap on my chair

Or just sat on the chair himself and absolutely would NOT get off

Cutest, sweetest, most gutless dog ever!

Meet Gus, the cute little trouble maker. More blogs to follow.

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-25T17:14:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas at my parents house this year. I absolutely love this time of year. It makes me so incredibly happy!

Quite the layout!

Happy Kim, ready to eat

Cute Hallie and her great grandma

Katie and Hallie

Dad, Hallie and Katie

Kim and Alli

Kenzie, Alli, and Jake ready to eat

Mom and Dan

Grandma and Kim

Reid and Val

Cutest Noah

The AZ kids...Chase, Caden, Noah, and Issac

Issac

Cute Al

Chase

Caden

Snowshoeing Adventures!

2010-12-24T15:50:00.002-07:00

My nephew Carter, Jack, and I went snowshoeing. It was so incredibly much fun! We had a complete blast! It was a gorgeous day and we had a good time getting some much needed exercise

Jack absolutely loves the snow! It makes him so happy

Funny action shot of the boy

It was lightly snowing, but sooo beautiful up here in Eden

Jack found some deer that he was desperate to chase. Thank heavens he is very obedient or else we may have had a dog vs deer fight on our hands

I love it here

I was ROBBED!!!

2010-12-21T15:04:00.004-07:00

This was an unfortunate situation all around. I guess you live and learn! I had worked a night shift and come home and gone to bed. Several hours later, I received a phone call from chase for a fraud alert. Thank heavens for chase fraud alerts! I went out to my car and found that the window had been broken and my GPS stolen. I had accidently left my wallet in the glove box for literally the first time ever!! Well, that was the day that someone decided to rob me! They got my wallet, all my credit cards, gift cards, work certification cards and my drivers license. Not to mention my wallet that I had bought while on vacation.

They used almost $3000 on my debit and credit cards! Bugs me so bad! The little $!@&*#&. People who steal irritate me more than anything else on earth! Get a life! Get a job!! Quit ruining our lives!! There little spree has cost me hundreds of dollars that I will never get back. Good people suffer because of the selfishness of others. Makes me so incredibly mad!

Happy 4th Birthday Jack!

2010-11-15T23:43:00.068-07:00

Lots of pictures of Jack through the years.

Handsome Baby Boy Jack when I first brought him home. He was 12 weeks old at the time.

There are a ton of pic's here. I just could not choose my fave's

Jack loves to take a bath

Look mom, I am tall enough to touch the counter

Am I GQ or what

I love treats!

My baby's paws

Looking for a rock in the water

Jack loves to keep an eye on what is going on in the neighborhood

Dr Jack at your service

Jack loves to play in the snow!

The hills are alive....Jack loves to go hiking

My little swimmer loves the water!

Jack loves to hike rocks through his legs like a football. Here is an action shot of him doing this. One of my absolute favorite pictures of him

My handsome boy after getting a buzz cut

Is he not the absolute most gorgeous dog ever?

Chilling on the beach

Playing in the sun

My little surfer. He did so incredibly great!

Jack is so precious to me. He is such an important part of my family. I am so thankful that he has been my little buddy for 4 years and I hope for many to come! I have so many nicknames that I like to call him! Jackie Wackie, Hanse, My Handsome One, The Handsomest, The cutest, My little rebel, My little surfer, the babe, my baby boy, Sweets, Jackster Baxter, and if I like a little french influence, I call him Jac-kai

Wac-kai, The most Precious-est, and I tell him on a daily basis that I love him more than life.

Some may call me insane or think I am crazy for loving my dog, but he really is a part of my family and I appreciate him so much for being a part of my life. I could not love him more than I do.

Jack's 4th Birthday Party

2010-11-10T23:22:00.028-07:00

We had Jack's 4th birthday party a few days early. We had such a great time! We invited several of his dog friends, and some of my great human friends as well. We had taco soup for dinner and several desserts. The doggy's got dog treats!

This is my niece Hallie. She is a party animal!

Here is the birthday boy! Cute Jackie Wackie

Jack's friend Baxter and him love to wrestle

Baxter's mom Jamie with cute Jack

Jack and Baxter wrestling

Addie and Heather's legs.

Jack and friends. Baxter, Addie, and Sadie

The 5th puppy at our party was cute Hallie

Of course Jack loves puppies and babies

Heather is taking turns giving the dogs a taste of dinner

Christy and Kai eating dinner with two very attentive dogs waiting for a morsel to drop

Jack is attacking Heather

Baxter practices obedience when he knows he will get a treat

Jack and Sadie playing!

One of many gifts Jack recieved from his friends. Thanks to them for the special gifts

Jack had a great time at his party and was soooo tired by the end of the night!

Fishing with Jack and his Grandpa!

2010-10-29T20:27:00.003-06:00

My dad took Jack and I fishing up in Wyoming today. This is our first view of Fontanelle reservoir. It was a balmy 19 degrees up here this morning.

Jack was so excited to find out where we were going today!

This is my dad's secret fishing spot.

Jack took off playing the moment we got there and did not stop until we left! He was having a blast!

Jack's Grandpa is getting the fishing poles set up

Who cares if it is only 22 degrees out here. It is beautiful and we are having a blast!

Grandpa casts out a line

Jack found a rock to play with!

Jack is in there playing!

Cutest rock playing boy ever!

Dad is proudly showing off my first catch. A 21inch rainbow trout!

We are still having a blast as we relax and enjoy the fish therapy. It is so nice up here!

The river is frozen! No, it's not cold here.

I thought this was a funny pic with Jack standing behind me

Gorgeous scenery up here! I can't get over how beautiful it is.

Jack's cousin Chevy showed up several hours later and they had a blast playing together

Carter and Reid getting ready to hunt geese.

Reid and my dad

Jack is licking his chops! Not really sure what he got, but something tasted good!

My cutest boy ever!

Gee mom, today has been an absolute blast! I am too tired to play more so I will just sit here with my rock. My dad and I had a complete blast fishing. We only got two fish, and I caught them both! As we were going to leave, my dad went to get the fish out of the water that were chained and the bigger of the two fish started flipping in the water and pulled the rock loose and they both got away! That is no fish tale! My two fish swam away at the end of the day with the chain attached to them!

Jack was acting funny on the way home and I could not figure out why! He climbed in the back seat and was moaning and groaning.

Couldn't really figure out why Jack was in the front seat when I came out of the restaurant!

Oh, now I know! Jack threw up every blasted thing he ate all day!! Poor little guy is sick!

My little Surfer

2010-10-12T22:16:00.003-06:00

Heading out for our lessons with Evan our surfing instructor. The calm before the storm!

Our first attempt. Jack did not quite get it.

Our second attempt....Jack was desperate for shore

Many attempts later, we got him to lay down on the board

I had to lift him on the board every time. He was really scared at first, but finally caught on and jumped on the board by himself.

Jack is hugging me and begging me not to make him do this anymore. No mommy, please stop!

On the board at last. I think that may be a shark heading toward us on the right. ;

Ok, break time. I have never seen Jack so happy to leave the water.

Break time's over. Time for more surfing!

More begging to stop

Surfing! Our first successful attempt

Whew! This surfing is hard work!

Yea! We did it! Jack is surfing!

The most handsome surfing dog ever!

Post surfing celebration!

Ok, now that we know what we are doing, lets do it again!

Jack and Evan bonded.

For video footage of the event, check out-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1qQuiljT94

Coronado Island Day 1

2010-10-11T23:34:00.029-06:00

Jack and I came to Coronado Island, San Diego for a much needed break! We stayed at a very dog friendly resort the Loews Coronado Bay Resort. It was so incredibly much fun!

We had this little mat in our room when we got there and two dog bowls for food and water.

View of resort grounds

View from hotel room

Cute Jack had a blast

We took a ride in a golf cart to the beach. Jack did great!

This might be our Christmas card! We almost got a ticket for having Jack on the beach and without a leash! Party poopers!

This could also be a cute Christmas card!

He is so handsome! He loves the beach!

His mama also loves the beach

Jack had a blast playing on the beach. I love the tongue shot!

Gorgeous sunset shots

His favorite place was to look from the deck. We were on the 4th floor, so we had lots to look at. He loved barking at the cats roaming the grounds.

The Canadian Tenors

2010-10-08T23:55:00.025-06:00

Tonight I went and saw The Canadian Tenors in concert at Club Nokia here in downtown Los Angeles. What an absolutely fantastic concert!

So, I am not going to lie. I saw The Canadian Tenors on pbs when I first moved to LA and loved them. So I looked online and saw they were coming in concert and bought the ticket. They have amazing voices. But that is not truly the reason I bought the ticket. I went to their concert, because I am in love with the blond one up there that looks like he is singing. Blondie is so completely hot! Plus his voice is simply amazing!

Ok, so here he is again. The hot Blondie is the one on the far right. Mmmmmm.

This is the square where the Nokia theater is. It is kind of like The Gateway with lots of shops, restaurants,

and clubs.

What a fun night!

I video taped a couple of their performances and posted them on youtube.com. So here are the links. You can see how amazing they are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hJqbFMD04k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASIu884ivgE

Marina Del Rey

2010-09-19T20:38:00.064-06:00

Jack and I went to Marina Del Rey today and had so much fun just walking around. We hung around the marina and the boardwalk. It was overcast and cold, but we had a blast!

I love this!

Happy girl!

Cute boy!

Jack desperately wanted to get the squirrel that ran up into the tree

Jack practically climbed the tree

After chasing the squirrel around, Jack was really thirsty! I'm pretty sure we'd get in some trouble if someone saw him in the fountain.

I love boats even if they are in the marina

Cute seals barking!

He looked right at me!

Lighthouse in the distance

This house in the Marina has a pirate and canons and someone hanging from the rafters. Interesting

Gorgeous view of homes along the waterway. It would be so great to live here

I couldn't stop thinking about alligators. They don't have them here, but I kept thinking that Jack couldn't swim. I have spent too much time in Florida and South Carolina!

Nice views while eating dinner on the boardwalk

Drove past Venice Beach on the way home. What a fun day! Jack and I had so much fun. I love seeing new places here in California. There is always so much to do and see!

The Dog Whisperer.....and PINK

2010-09-18T22:21:00.002-06:00

Today Jack and I went to a dog fair at LACMA (a park in Los Angeles). They had booths and adoption agencies with dogs everywhere that were available for adoption. I had stopped at the Cesar Milan The Dog Whisperer booth (no one else was even around) and was chatting with a worker when none other than Cesar Milan himself showed up. He said to me, "so, you want me to work with your dog?" and I said, "I would absolutely love you to work with my dog" and he said, "so would everyone". In the midst of our conversation, we became surrounded by people everywhere taking photos of Cesar and paparazzi. So, like everyone else, I took photos!

While hanging out around all the people, Jack and another dog started wrestling. It was funny because some of the paparazzi took pics of the two dogs wrestling. Hopefully he will end up in a magazine!

Getting some make-up before the big speech

It was cool to hear him talk. He said something that I have believed for a long time and it even brought tears to his eyes, but he said, "dogs are so loyal and loving to us. they forgive us over and over and they still love us even if they have never been treated kind by a human they still have a capacity to love us". I also feel that dogs are such forgiving creatures. People could hurt them over and over and they would still be loving towards them.

It was fun to be a part of this event

Pink was also there to support the cause for dogs

I could never get a face shot of her though, too many peeps wanted photos with her

Fun day in Santa Monica Take One

2010-09-13T21:26:00.004-06:00

There were so many things to take photos of, that our blog post today will be done in two takes. This photo is of a walkway along the beach in Santa Monica. It was so gorgeous here today!

Jack was looking longingly at the water. He loves to swim and would have loved to be out there! Santa Monica however, is a no dogs on the beach kinda town. Bah humbug!

Mama and her baby

Views of the Santa Monica pier

Really interesting twisted trees along the path

Gorgeous views of the mountains and scenery

Jack found someone to wrestle with at the beach. He was a domesticated dingo

Jack in the sunset

Nightlife at the Santa Monica pier

Santa Monica Take Two

2010-09-13T21:15:00.015-06:00

View from afar of the pier

Fun rides on the pier

Roller coaster of terror

Gorgeous sunset in Santa Monica

Most handsome dog ever!

Gorgeous night in Santa Monica

Hollywood Walk of Fame

2010-09-10T21:13:00.015-06:00

Cute Jack accepting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! He was very gracious during his acceptance speech saying "woof woof".

Hollywood

Graumans Chinese Theater in Hollywood where all the stars have their handprints in the cement sidewalk

There were a ton of Asian tourists along the Walk of Fame and they were way more interested in Jack than they were in the Walk of Fame. We had a ton of them ask us for photos and many more sneak pics of my handsome boy. All in all it was a really fun day being a tourist in Hollywood!

Santa Barbara Day 3

2010-09-01T22:17:00.002-06:00

There was a thick marine layer this morning and it was downright cold here in Santa Barbara

But we still went to the beach! I love it when Jack sits like this

Such a cute boy

Mommy I have sand on my nosey.

We met a cute little friend on the beach

Lots of sand on the nosey.

We went to the bird refuge which had beautiful scenery

Bird Refuge

More bird refuge scenery

I don't really know what building that is, but I liked it.

I also liked this building. It is a restaurant and I thought it looked cute