Monday, June 24, 2013

Paper Planes

Remember in my first post when I talked about how I was afraid of  everything?

Well, flying is on that list. When my parents talked about us going to Vegas they decided that flying would be more fun, and we wouldn't have to deal with anyone getting car sick on the long drive (okay, so really only I get car sick, but my parents are gems). 

I am on a plane at least once a year and you'd think I would get used to it by now right? I don't know what it is about it, but I just get really nervous every single flight. Here are a few things that go through my head:
-There is going to be a terrorist on this plane and I am going to blow up.
-I'm really glad that I was such a Lost fan so I know how to survive. 
-Wait, everyone in Lost was dead. I am going to die.
-I should probably text my final goodbyes to all my loved ones.
-Text siblings and say I love them, also tell them to tell Rudy the dog.
-Tell mom, dad, and Alex how much I love them without making them panic about our impending doom. 
-Maybe I should have made a will.
-How often does landing gear fail?
-Are my odds of survival greater in the middle seat?

Every take off I close my eyes, grip my arm rests, and breathe as deep as I can. I refuse to leave this position until we have reached our altitude. Then what happens? I am totally fine. Giggling, laughing, not even wondering how long it will take us to hit the ground. When I'm actually in the air I feel like a champion and I wonder why I was so nervous in the first place. And then...turbulence. Instantly I go back to assuming the plane is going down and we are all going to die. In my head I start screaming, "THIS IS THE END!" I hate that feeling in your stomach when you drop suddenly in altitude. After those moments of terror I am good again, until we start to land. I mean hello, we are basically doing a controlled plane crash every time. So I assume the same position as take off and open my eyes when I am on the ground alive, thanking God that I did not die on my flight. 

I think I may have made some minor progress on this last flight to Vegas though. I am wondering how I will ever fly without Alex ever again. He loves flying, this is one of those thank goodness moments in our relationship. Why? He knows exactly how to calm me down when I get worked up or stressed out. The flight was a BREEZE! He just talked to me the whole time and let me hold his hand if there were bumps. If there were multiple bumps in a row he would have me lay on his shoulder and he'd kiss my forehead. I got a good one you guys. 

Maybe one day I can not be so crazy about so many things and just learn to relax, but flying is going to take a few more trips. 

Viva.

Hello, it's been awhile, I know. I'm working on it, I am so sorry.

 Can I just start off by saying my parents are the sweetest people in the world? They decided since I had been 21 for a few months and Alex turned 21 in May, that they wanted to take us for our first time in Vegas as legal adults! The sweetest. We stayed for three days at Planet Hollywood just living it up in the sun, sipping some delicious virgin piƱa coladas by the pool, stuffing our faces, shopping, lots and lots of walking, and attempting to gamble. Everyone came back ahead, and my mom and I had a seriously hilarious bonding moment.

My mom loves to gamble, but she gets so sad about loosing. The first few minutes we had been in the hotel she wanted to play her favorite game, Wheel of Fortune. Off we went to find the machine, and she played for a few minutes. She lost the 20$ she had put in and wanted to walk around. As we walked around I saw the weirdest game that had ducks all over it. It looked easy so I sat down and put in five dollars. I hit the button once and BAM. I want 11$. A few hours later when Alex sat down at his first machine he won 40$! We beginners were on a roll, and my mom was having no luck at all. On our second day we took a trip over to the Rio to see the World Series of Poker, obviously the boys choice.  My mom and I went to look at the machines and left the boys to hang out.  My mom played a machine, and lost. She played another machine, and lost. Then I sat down at Hangover themed machine, put in five dollars, and won 15. My mom seeing that the game was actually interactive and fun wanted to play, however the machine would not take her twenty. After a coupe attempts I told my mom that if she tried one more time and it didn't go in, then the gambling gods did not want her to play that machine. She put it in and out it came so we moved on. She saw a penny machine called The Blazing Sevens and decided to sit down. She put in a twenty and started playing. The machine made no sense at all. She would get the most random compinations that would give her bonuses, but then the bonus wouldn't pay. I expected her to loose it all again to be honest, so I started texting my dad and Alex to see where they were. All of the sudden my mom said my name in a voice that made her sound like she was very scared. I looked up at her and she was just staring at the machine with her mouth open. She very calmly said, "I think I just won 400 dollars." I did not believe her and I was trying to tell her that she must have been confused. I looked at the total and sure enough she had won just about 40,000 pennies; 400 dollars.  I was in shock. All of the sudden we both started crying, and she cashed out. When we walked over to get her cash she seriously almost fainted. It was the cutest thing ever watching her get so excited that she'd finally won, and that much money!

My favorite part of the trip? The Mandalay Bay Aquarium. Seriously. It is a must. For those of you that do not know I have a serious love for aquatic animals; sharks are my absolute favorite. When I was in Jr. High my parents let me and my older brother dive with sharks in a cage. I died, I was so happy! So, naturally I needed to see the sharks. It was the cutest thing ever. I took way too many pictures and I'm sure I looked like the biggest freak ever. I was honestly more excited than some of the little children. My parents and Alex were dying over how excited I was. If they had let me swim in the tank I probably would have. Next time I am going to have to! 

It was such a much needed mini vacation and I loved every second of it. I just want to go back right now! I'm so thankful for such amazing and hilarious parents that are so willing to do random fun things with me. Seriously, so grateful for Gary and Maria!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Well, here I am again; attempt number three at blogging in words rather than Tumblr images. I warn you now, I am not very good at this.  Before I get into any serious blogging I decided I'd make a list of things you should probably know about me, or my life will make no sense at all to you; enjoy!

- If at any point I refer to a man named Alex, just remember he's my boyfriend. We have been together for over 2.5 years. That is basically a lifetime here in Utah County. And before you ask, no, it was not love at first sight. Yes I thought he was a babe, and yes he thought I was a catch, but it did not stay like that for long. For a brief period we hated each other.  I even put a hospital grade laxative in his apple pie once. Now, we are excited for what the future will bring us. Ironically enough he loves when I make him mini apple pies now, not without the horrible flashbacks I'm sure.

-I have one awesome dad. His name is Gary. He is the whitest Mexican you will ever meet. My mother's name is Maria, we call her Asian. She was born in Vietnam, but I promise she wasn't part of the Viet Cong. I owe my parents everything, especially since I was not the easiest of children in my teen years. My older brother Wesley is a gem. Once when I was in first grade he spent all of his recess trying to find a boy who was mean to me so he could yell at him. He would still do it today if anything happened to me.  Aaron is my baby brother. We didn't used to get along, but now he is seriously my best friend. We spend all our time just looking up stupid videos on youtube. The tiniest human is Paige. Now, she is at that age where I want to slap her all the time, but we definitely have our moments of sisterly love. I'd do anything for her.  At the very end we have Rudy. Now, we know he's a dog. We do, but he will always be part of the family. I mean, we hand feed him you guys. He's a king.

-I'm a nursing student. Literally nothing you tell me could gross me out. Guys, I've had every bodily fluid imaginable on me, and this is still what I want to do.  Right now I work as a PCT at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and American Fork Hospital. I love it!  I'm trained to work on every unit which keeps me on my toes, and I see everything from gunshot head wounds to mono. If you're ever a patient, let me know and I promise to visit with goodies.

-I have a fear of just about everything. Literally. When I leave the house I think of how I could get kidnapped in different situations, what to do if there is a natural disaster that second, and I go through how to use the AED's at the store in case someone decides do have a heart attack in the middle of Walmart. I promise none of this is spoken out loud. I worry about going down stairs with people around. I imagine tripping or just full on falling to the bottom of the steps, so I just go VERY VERY slow. I'm sorry in advance. For a brief period the summer before 8th grade I carried bug repellant on my person at all times, I was NOT about to get West Nile Virus.  I know this makes me seem crazy, but I promise I am totally normal.

-I only drink water, some flavored teas, and juice. I threw up Mountain Dew when I was ten, and I just haven't been able to do soda again. 

-I am amazing at being unintentionally creepy. I usually like everyone's instas first. I will attempt to initiate conversations and act like your best friend after saying hi to you one time in a group of people I AM SO SORRY. I am just overly friendly and even more overly interested in being nice to everyone. So forgive me. 

-The littlest things can make me full on cry in public. It's not even sad things. When I get too happy, excited, surprised, or sad I cry. The Target scholarship commercial; tears. Babies that are really cute; tears. Old man alone; tears.  Seeing someone I haven't seen in a long time; tears. Weddings; tears. Cute slideshows;tears. It's really embarrassing but I can't help it!

That's really all I can think of at this moment, hopefully that gives you some insight into my day to day life!