Costa Rica Part I

We started our adventure August 19- our flight went from SLC to Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas and then onto San Jose Costa Rica. No delays- weather was wonderful... yay!
Once we got into Costa Rica we headed for the car rental place- According to Google Maps we had about 1½ hour drive to our hotel in La Fortuna... that would be a lie (Damn you Google Maps for failing me!) it was really about 3½ hour drive on reaallllly narrow roads in the middle of the night... with fog. We had called ahead to the hotel and so they had given our room key to the security guy, Gabriel, and we were able to just crash and check in the next day.
We stayed in a beautiful little town and this was the view from our room every morning:

The town was super small and just had a lot of little shops, places to eat and the town centered around the church. I have to admit, it was the least creepy rendition of Jesus I have ever seen.

(I mean that in the least blasphemous way possible)

Since La Fortuna sits at the base of the Arenal Volcano, I wanted to go hiking ASAP, so we hooked up with the cutest little trail guy and headed into the rainforest.

Volcan Arenal

The shrine made from seashells to keep the town safe from more eruptions

The land is so fertile that the broken tree branches that they stick in the ground to make 'fences' will start growing leaves and turn into live trees again, it's crazy

During the hike it started raining pretty hard, like it did everyday, so we chilled in a cave for about 20 minutes while our tour guide Franklin, yelled and laughed at all the hikers running from the forest trying to find shelter. 

He showed us all kind of cool things on the trail, the different plants like Anise, wild pepper and the Mimosa plant, Mondo took a video of it... It hides its leaves from predators to show the spikes underneath

We were so lazy, sleeping in, walking around town, eating and just hanging out- no real plans, just tried to keep it pretty low key. We had seen the signs for the 'Fortuna Cataratas' and heard it was a pretty hike so we headed out in the rental car to find them.

Not the most flattering picture, but that was our trusty Yaris and the crap roads that Costa Rica has... largely unpaved and full of pot holes.

Imagine walking in the rainforest.... and walking and walking and then all of a sudden you reach a clearing and this is what you see:

Amazing, then you follow various signs in lots of different languages that lead you down the rocky, jagged, steep as sh*t stairs of death to the most beautiful, refreshing waterfall I have ever seen.

Smiling my pretty smile as I tried not to slide down the wet rocks on the trail

Another trail and some more steps led you away from the waterfall to another little spring, not as pretty though so we went back up to the falls and I swam  like a little kid.

Hiking up was not nearly as 'easy' as walking down and I would have paid someone to put me in a carrier to save my calves/glutes the trek back up to the car, it was just so beautiful though, I couldn't even whine about my sore muscles. Every night I would try to catch the little geckos that creeped around our room... They are much more wily than you give them credit for. 

Antelope Island

I wanted to go hiking but the mountains were sooooooooooo far away, so one night a few weeks ago Mondo took me and Randy to Antelope Island.

It was so fun, I hadn't been there in years. I though Randy was going to be a pansy but he was so manly! He chased pheasants, rabbits and mice- he is quite the outdoorsman.
All was going well, Mondo was trying out our new camera when I noticed something moving in the bushes... A GINORMOUS SPIDER! Oh dear Lord, it was awful, huge and ugly- with a monstrous web all throughout the bush it was perched in. Well, once I trained my eyes to pick out the one spider- I could see them all.... we were on Antelope Spider Island. Every bush on the trails had several webs and each web had this massive arachnid in it... 

Disgusting creatures... I was karate chopping down webs with my trusty stick and Randy was busy running through the damn things... ugh..

Facing Egg Island

My little hunter... chasin' rabbits and such

One of the elusive rabbits

A buffalo! I was so excited I made Armando pull over so I could get out and get a picture... I had to get back in the car though- he kept yelling "Don't get so close! He's gonna eat you!!"

A beautiful night out with the two men in my life

Big Changes

I am 25 and I finally have my life going in a direction that I am happy with. I feel that I have always been so busy, trying to finish school, get a job, doing this trying that.... I've never seemed content with what I have.

Well, I am content, because all in all life is pretty damn fine right now. 

I am graduating tomorrow and they do this silly thing for your nursing graduation where they have a 'pinning' ceremony. You can have another nurse in your family pin you or someone who is important to you. I was struggling to figure out who I should ask and couldn't think of anyone more important than my husband to do it. It seemed silly at first but he has been there for me through the whole thing and supported my crazy schedule and early mornings for longer than anyone should have to, I owe him my sanity.

I am graduating with my RN, will hopefully pass my NCLEX-RN on the first time and quite possibly have a new job on the horizon, things are changing but I welcome it. 

I just worked my last day before my vacation and I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, playing with my puppy and spending the evening with my family after graduation... Costa Rica countdown begins!!! T minus 3 days....

Can't Wait!

Contemplating where to go on vacation to this year, it will be our 1 year anniversary and I will be done with school at the end of August, we want to do something special. 
At first I wanted to go to the Dominican Republic and was well into the planning stage of things when I stumbled upon the fact that August is their hurricane season... damn!
So I started Google'ing where in South America was a good place to visit in August... Costa Rica was one that came up....I like the idea of being able to see the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean in one day, traveling from Nicaragua to Panama if we want to... There is jungle, swamp, volcano, rivers, lakes, trails... so much to do.

So...starting August 19th we will be spending ten lovely days in Costa Rica near the Arenal Volcano... I'm so excited. I was wondering if we should be spending the money on a vacation- but my sister Jeni told me I would regret it if we didn't do it and then Mondo said we (I) should have something to look forward to at the end of school. Our hotel had an awesome deal and we have a view of the volcano, I've already looked at tons of stuff I want to do: rafting, hiking, night hikes around the volcano, turtle nesting sites, jungle stuff..... I CAN'T WAIT.... no work, no school... just me and the hubs and no schedule... 

June Update: IT SUCKED!

I was planning on doing my precepting hours in July... I get to tag along with a nurse and basically take over her job- I wanted to do it at the Surgical Center so I could get more IV experience... well my academic advisor was not as efficient as I would have liked her to be and so when she finally got around to getting a contract signed with the surgical center, June 7th, it came to our attention that my contract would only be good through June 30th, the center was merging with Davis hospital and so my contract would be void and I would be in limbo waiting for the hospital to get approval for me to be there.
So... I had 23 days to get in 90 hours, on top of my work schedule, on top of school....
Very long story short, I survived... my diet/exercise schedule has definately suffered, my hair and makeup have seen better days and I maaaaay have forgotten what my husband looks like in the daytime... but I'm done! One more big X on my list of shiz I have to do to graduate... yay!

This go-around in nursing school I really wanted to be able to keep some kind of social life... my LPN year I worked or had school every day- worked every weekend and had school/work during the week... It was horrible and didn't do much for my stress level. Mostly I hated telling my mom/sisters/dad/friends that "Sorry, I have work/school.... maybe next time". My nerves are frazzled but it was definately better to get it done quickly in one month so I can breathe easier in July... August 17th can not come fast enough!

I NEED A NAP!

Dad :D

I've been uber-busy lately- but I had to put in a late entry for my Dad for Father's Day...I love my dad, he is my hero in more ways than one.
We are more alike than I would like to admit to, but different enough that we don't get on each others nerves all the time.
My dad has cheered me on at games, gotten kicked out of some of them, and always shown up for any function that was important to me. That seems silly, but I have a lot of friends who never had anyone waiting out in the audience and now that I'm older, I'm getting pretty sentimental about that kind of thing.
I love that he has entered the technological age and now I get random texts from him--- usually all ending in "Love Dad", like I don't have his number saved in my phone :)
I love that he helped shape me into a strong woman that was able to put myself through school, find a man I wanted to be with- not needed to be, and can help provide for a family I am hoping to have soon.
I love that he trusted me enough to make my own mistakes in life, because quite honestly the "They'll only do it once" philosophy really does work.

I love him lots and lots and count myself incredibly lucky to have him in my life...

Love you Pops!

Since my dad hates the camera, I have few pics to choose from... I need to catch him in the lens more...

Success!!!!

I suck at IV's. I am almost done with nursing school and they still scare the shiz out of me... I don't want to hurt anyone and I'm kind of a perfectionist so I don't like doing things that I'm not really comfortable with- I want to be the IV master!
My first attempt was on a fellow student (Sorry Melissa!) at school. She was super calm and collected, but my lab teacher was yelling like a banshee over my shoulder, "Why are you doing that!?" "Hurry!!" "Why did you do that?!" "No! That's not how you should do it, that's all wrong!" Not exactly conducive to a learning environment...
My second attempt was in an Emergency room with a nurse who seemed to forget I was a 'student' and sent me into a room with a little dehydrated lady who 'has bad veins'. She then watched over my shoulder as I 'blew' this little old lady's vein while her husband muttered "God damn amateurs, don't know what the hell they are doing" in the corner of the room.... Not really building up my self confidence.
I figured I would learn best by being thrown right in the fire- I set up my preceptorship at a surgical center with a pre-op nurse-- IV's all day everyday! Good plan, no?
Thank God that Chelise is a very patient and helpful person, she walked me through the steps several times, let me watch her do several and then actually let me practice on her, Bless her heart!
I do not feel like the IV master yet, but since I was able to successfully stick myself I am actually looking forward to getting to try again....

PS the Davis Surgical Center gives a numbing shot to their patients before they start the IV, so I don't feel like such a bastard trying to place one... yay!