BYU Alumni

Could not have done it without him. Thanks Alex for all your encouragement!

We did it! We are officially university graduates!

Potential Photo Project?

I am thinking about compiling photographs for a collage of Alex and I trying to take a nice picture and instead one/the both of us blinks/makes a weird face and we end up looking completely ridiculous. Even if I don't go through with it, I am sure this picture would always be in first place.

Summer 2012

So I feel like I have not blogged in like 9823798247456723908439 years. But we have been doing fun stuff, I promise!

Like being up in Canada for my sister's High School graduation, going to the Provo Farmers market and finding cool trinkets, being with family at a blessing for our newest nephew / 4th of July celebrations, refurbishing the bottom half of a bookshelf into a window seat {this will be a blog post in and of itself when all is said and done}, a parade &fireworks, eating lots of freezies, going to an outdoor symphony concert, watching Prison Break season 1, going to Seven Peaks and an Orem Owlz game courtesy of Alex's work, pretending that one of these days I will be an extra keen student and start to study for the NCLEX by reviewing everything I have learned thus far, discovering the best place to get Pad Thai in Provo {Thai Mango in case you were wondering}, preparing lessons for the cute 4 year olds I teach at Church, buying Styrofoam airplanes with a bunch of friends and seeing whose will hold up the longest, going to a free outdoor movie in our neighbourhood, taking long rides on the motorcycle and exploring new places close by, eating at Cafe Rio far too often but it being okay since we have a gift card, making up graduation invites, actually being caught up on housework unlike during a school when the house looks like a hurricane blew through, getting to know our neighbours better, finding out my hospital placement for the fall, going to the wedding of Alex's best friend, playing Risk and Battleship, buying food supplies to make extra fancy sandwiches for a picnic and while on our picnic sprinklers nearby turn on and lightly drizzle us and when we finally decide to move our blanket they turn off in that moment, and buying milkshakes at Culver's trying to perfect the best combination to go with "Chocolate Covered Strawberry."

The summer has been going by way too fast and it is hard to believe it is almost the end of July. We still have lots of exciting activities coming our way such as a Sheen family reunion, walking for graduation, Alex's 25th birthday, and our anniversary! Here's to fun in the summertime!

Pioneer Day

We celebrated Pioneer Day in Utah by going to an Orem Owlz game and watching fireworks. It was a great date!

I am like seriously obsessed with the lace shirt I got for $10 at H&M // we got a little rained on, but the rainbow afterwards was worth it // FIREWORKSARESOMAGICAL // the Orem Owlz mascot looks weird

Duck Pond

Who knew crusty tortillas and about-to-go-moldy hot dog buns could inspire such a fun date?

Letters from the Navajo Nation (#3)

I am now back home, but still need to write about the last week that I was in the Navajo Nation. Here is what I did:

• We went to a family's home from Church for dinner on Monday night. We had an amazing time, and the gentleman and his wife were so welcoming. They shared many great stories with us, one of them being about how this man came to lose his leg. He kept getting an infection in knee due to his medical conditions, and the doctors tried everything but nothing worked. He eventually ended up in the hospital again, and didn't know what to do. He called his Bishop at the time and said for "pray for me", and the Bishop said for him to pray as well. This man prayed that he would live long enough to see his niece, that his wife and he adopted due to family circumstances, be able to go to the temple. The doctors then came in and told him about the option of amputating his leg in order to get rid of the infection entirely, and he said immediately he knew that was the answer to his prayer. He got his leg amputated, and then this man proceeded to tell us how his amputation was the answer to his prayer to prolong his days so that way he can see his niece be able to go to the temple. He has not had any complications since. He then told us how God answers prayers sometimes in ways you don't expect, and that just sent chills down my spine. What great faith!
• We went to another person's home on Wednesday. This woman was a nurse at the high school, and she invited us to come and make our own Navajo tacos. Here are some pictures of us making the dough-

Here we are making the bread in the Hogan

Outside the Hogan making the fry bread-you can see what the scenery looks like there!

• On Thursday for clinical I got to go to the Urgent Care clinic. I have definitely decided that working at a clinic is something that I would be interested in as I get older. I really enjoyed it, and the nurses were awesome and let me dress wounds, irrigate an ear, do admittance assessments, and help out. It was great!
• On Friday our group worked on homework for most of the morning, but in the afternoon we did the White House hike in Canyon De Chelly, as it does not require a Native American tour guide. The White House hike takes you down to the floor of the canyon to ruins that are estimated to have housed about 60-70 people.

The ruins

• Saturday involved us completing our Public Health project. We taught at a Relief Society "Super Saturday" activity on Emergency Preparedness and Basic First Aid. We were able to teach many of the people that came, and taught topics such as burns, cuts & animal bites, fractures, basics of CPR, and how to assemble a first aid kit.  My partner Brittney and I taught about the importance of writing down medical information so you can have it all in one place and the importance of establishing a plan with your family of what you would do if an emergency occurred.

Brittney and I posing for a teaching-in-action shot

• The next Monday we were again invited to dinner from a member from Church. We went to her mother's property, which had a small canyon and walked hiked and scaled big rocks in order to see some Native American ruins up close! It was a great experience, but we weren't aware of the intensity of the hike beforehand, and the majority of us were wearing flip-flops (myself included)! It was a fun though and the ruins were really cool!

Victory after just climbing up a HUGE rock. I had ditched the flip-flops as you can see

Cool rock formations at the bottom of the canyon; these were caused by the river that had run in it a long time ago

Some pretty wild flowers I encountered during the less intense part of our hike :)

The ruins up close! So cool!

• I got to be out in the community for my last few clinical days, and it was great! I really got to experience the culture first-hand and visit people in their homes. We mostly visited the Grandmas to check up on how they were doing. A neat thing about the Navajo culture is that any elderly lady that you encounter you always call Grandma, even if they are not your grandmother.

We left this past Thursday, and while I was more than excited to get home to Alex (I had been counting down the days!) I felt sad to leave. I grew to love the people and learned a lot from the culture. I am really glad I choose the Navajo Nation for my global health experience, and I am so grateful for all the people that I had the opportunity to meet and work with. Also, feel free to check out ghhdnavajo2012.blogspot.com for more perspectives from the students I was with on our cultural experiences!

All of us with our amazing instructors (the two on the far right)

Letters from the Navajo Nation (#2)

Window Rock, AZ; a group of us at the rodeo; Navajo burger; jewelry from the Flea Market

   
             In nursing school there is a adage that our professors constantly tell us; keep theory and practice separate. This saying is usually said in conjunction with test questions as what we read in our textbooks or learn in lecture is often completely different than what we actually experience in the hospital. I feel though that this saying has played a role in my experience in the Navajo Nation over the past few days. I had theorized in my mind what I expected to occur while I was here. In reality it has been much different. The hospital has very few patients and a lot of staff, which was surprising to me, so I feel like I am sitting around more than I would like to and that causes me go stir-crazy. I have definitely realized that being constantly busy is something that I will be looking for as I apply for jobs in the future! Also, sometimes I feel like I am not having the opportunity to independently perform tasks associated with my level of knowledge and skill that I have (performing assessments and administering medications), while other times I completely flub up something that should be second-nature by now (like inserting IV's).
            But despite these things I am still enjoying myself and learning how to change my perspectives and expectations. The moment I realized that I needed to do this was when there was a particularly frustrating moment at the hospital. I was doing my rotation in the ER for the day and had already missed 2 IV's and was completely embarrassed. I mean, I am about to graduate for heavens sake! My nurse, who was wonderfully patient and kind, told me that we were to do another IV insertion and suggested I try it again. As I began nervously prepping the supplies the thought came to pray for help so that is what I did. I silently prayed in my mind that I would be able to remember the technique correctly and feel at peace. I was able to successfully insert the IV. This tender mercy was a huge turning point for me. I realized that I do not have to do everything on my own. I can turn to my Heavenly Father for help in all my endeavors, even nursing related ones. This really impacted me to further recognize that I have a wonderful opportunity here in the Navajo Nation to personally learn and grow. I just need to be willing to accept that this experience may not be as perfect as I had previously idealized it was going to be, but with the Lord's help I can begin to recognize situations that are before me and make the best of whatever they are. Anyways, those are just some of my thoughts right now :)

Here are some more of the activities we have done outside of clinicals at the hospital which have been keeping me busy:

• Having a presentation from the Native Healers at the hospital in which they shared with us what they did-it was very interesting!
• Attending a rodeo. The exciting moment of the night was seeing a man get bucked off a horse and then subsequently being stepped on about 10 times. Kind of scary, but luckily he was alright.
• Participating in a service project where we picked up garbage along a mile long stretch of highway
• Going to Window Rock, AZ and then Gallup, NM. We got to see the actual "Window Rock" (see pictures above) and the Code-Talker memorial. We also went to Flea Markets and I bought some jewelry. I had my first Navajo Burger as well, which is basically the same as a regular burger except instead of buns they use Fry Bread!  
• Homework. Writing papers, working on projects, assignments. 

 Well, that's all for now. Keep checking back for more updates!
-Tabi

Letters from the Navajo Nation (#1)

Well, I have officially been in the Navajo Nation for 5 days now. I am definitely learning a lot about the Navajo people and the culture. Here is what I have been up to:

• Our first day involved driving down, and that was a relatively normal experience except for the huge dust storm that kicked up. That is one thing I will never get used to down here-all the red dust! We also made a pit stop to Four Corners. Let's just say that if my future kids ever want to visit there I will not be the one leading that expedition. It was the most anti-climatic thing ever. It also might not have helped that the dust storm was approaching and the place was deserted of vendors and tourists alike.
• On Friday we got a tour of the hospital, where we will be doing our clinicals while we are here. It is a 60 bed facility so is pretty small. One thing that I noticed was that the staff was very welcoming and from the sounds of it they view us like employees which is awesome.
• We also went to the Flea Market for lunch that day. I got the "Dumpling Stew." Enough said.
•  On Saturday morning part of our group (there are 10 of us nursing students total), went for a hike to Canyon De Chelly. We went with a group of about 16 people led by a Navajo guide, who had to be with us due to Navajo tradition and belief. The Canyon was absolutely breathtaking, and in total we went 800 ft into the Canyon and walked 4 miles. We saw some ancient ruins as well on the hike from afar, which was pretty neat.
•  In the afternoon we made our way to the Hubble Museum and Trading Post, which has significance in Navajo history as it helped to rebuild the economy after the Long Walk. We took a walk through the Hubble House (which contained all the original decor), and then I bought the cutest baby moccasins from the Trading Post for future Aggen 'littuns. 
• Another interesting experience at the Museum was having a guide talk to us about Navajo rugs and the symbolism that is in the patterns-way cool!
• Sunday involved us going to Church, which was an amazing experience. Sacrament meeting involved only the Bishop speaking (typically in a LDS Church about 3 members from the congregation will speak on a Gospel topic) and he spoke in Navajo for about 15 minutes during that time. We also got the opportunity to introduce ourselves during Sunday School, and everyone in the whole congregation introduced themselves back! I feel very welcomed here.
• Another small group of us drove around Sunday evening to the look-out spots throughout Canyon De Chelly. Incredible. What a beautiful world we truly live in.
• And Monday has been my very first day. I went out with the Public Health Nurse and we got to work on a case where there had been a bacterial infection. We went to the family's home to interview them to try and figure out the source. The family lived in a small make-shift mobile home and there were around 10 people total living there. This was a very humbling experience.
• Navajo children are seriously the cutest kids ever. My nurse took me to the Chapter House (like a Town Hall) and there was a HeadStart program next to it (basically a more intense preschool to better prepare under-privileged children  for school). We walk in and all these 4 year old suddenly become your best friend and call you "teacher" while trying to show you everything in their classroom. Sostinkingadorable.
• I have also been Skyping Alex in every possible moment, which is to be expected. :) He is so supportive, and while I am enjoying my time here serving the Navajo people I cannot wait until I get to see him again in a few weeks!

-Tabi

Date Night

 
Date Night is always the best! Japanese
food { noodles of course } and an Ingrid
Michaelson concert { her opening act,
Harper Blynn, was amazing, Ingrid's
songs always put a smile on my face, &
Alex makes concerts especially fun by
singing along with me }

Beginning:

summer (can I get an amen for sunshine, picnics, and motorcycle rides?)

a three week internship in the navajo nation in arizona to work at the hospital, do public health, and serve the people there

to anticipate a trip to canada to visit home and attend graduation ceremonies for my sister

to look forward to my own {early} graduation ceremonies in august

to realize that Alex and I will celebrate our third wedding anniversary this summer-where has the time gone? :)

to wonder where I will be placed for my capstone semester in the fall, and hoping I got labor and delivery for the unit that I will be on (my last semester I just need to get my hours in at the hospital and attend once-a-week seminar style classes on campus!)

figuring out law schools that Alex is interested in and factoring in that we would be moving to those places for three years

to realize that I will be all done with school (potentially, forever) in december. weird.

for Alex and I to learn patience and feel peace as we look forward to the next phase of our life.