Thursday, October 30, 2008

I was tagged by my good friend Brooke, http://chadandbrooke.blogspot.com/ so here's my responses (Just for you Marva ;) )


1. As most of you know, I love food, and tend to have some weird eating habits. One that I acquired my sophomore year of college is eating mashed potatoes and drinking hot chocolate, together. Whenever I have mashed potatoes, I make myself a cup of hot cocoa. Not sure why..I think at that time, I was extremely poor and that was all I had, but I LOVE it. It brings joy to my heart.

2. I believe in Big Foot. I have a desire to go Big Foot hunting someday. I would give him a huge hug and tell him not to be afraid of us... :)

3. I had a goal to be one of the top 10 students in my graduating class academically. I worked really hard for that goal, but ended up being number 12, due to the fact that the first 8 were Valedictorians with a perfect 4.0 record. I got like a 3.967 or something like that. I look back now and see that it doesn't matter, but I worked really hard...so sue me :)

4. I can do a killer worm move...and I have my own version of the bend and snap. But that's only shown to a select few.

5. When I was 5, and we lived in Ogden, my sisters Kala, Tabbi, and I were playing Barbies with the next door neighbors, the Eskelsons. For some reason I felt left out, so I decided to leave and go inside (I'm a runner, I run away from situations that make me feel uncomfortable, or alone, rather than dealing with it..that apparently started at a young age :) ) and decided to have the effect of slamming the door as I went in, to see if they would even notice me. Well, for some reason my right ring finger was in the way, and I slammed it, and seriously crushed my finger. I remember sitting on the steps sobbing, and seeing all this blood. At that time, my family only had 1 vehicle an AWESOME orange Volkswagon van, and my dad had it, he was going to Weber at the time. So somehow my mom got a hold of him, and we went to the hospital where I got stitches put in, and still have a scar to this day. The funny thing is, I was so mad at my sisters, that I blamed it on Tabbi, who was probably 3 and a half at the time? So for years, everyone in my family, including her, believed she had slammed my finger in the door. I finally admitted the truth a few years back. Pretty sad, huh?

6. I get scared very easily, by anything. I hate scary movies, I hate scary stories, I hate haunted houses and corn mazes. I become a very different person when put in those situations. I have been known to yell at the people who are trying to scare me in those places. I was afraid of the dark growing up, and had to constantly sleep with a night light. I had a fear that when I would turn off the light at night and walk back to my bed, that I wouldn't make it to my bed before someone or something would harm me. I've gotten better at that as I've gotten older, but I still get scared in the dark a lot.

7. This is a good one...for some reason, my family loved to watch Unsolved Mysteries. Referring to number 6, I get scared easy. I had this fear that while we were watching the show, the person who was missing that they were trying to find due to various crimes (Murder, rape, theft, all that good stuff) would be outside my house, watching through the window, as we watched about them on the show. It would terrify me.

8. Just for fun, I'm doing one more. I was jealous in school when kids had middle names. I always wanted one (my full name is Quintana, and my mom thought having a middle name, plus when I got married, adding on my married name, would make it too long). Finally in second grade, I decided that I was going to make my own middle name. I started writing Tawna Wana on all my papers. My teacher finally had a talk with me, and told me not to do that anymore because it wasn't my name. I think that always kind of bothered me that she did that, so when I became a teacher and some of my students would write down their nicknames or such rather than their first name, I let them.

I tag: Nicole, Katrina, Amanda, AnnMarie, Kristy, Kim, and Monica

Monday, October 27, 2008

Twilight or Bust

Yes, I am one of those people that love the Twilight series. I got addicted immediately. That's easy for me to do with books! I was excited that I was Esme. She was always one of my favorite characters. I love her quiet strength and kind heart that she portrays in the books. Great way to live your life!

I'm a Esme! I found out through TwilightersAnonymous.com. Which Twilight Female Are You? Take the quiz and find out!
You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be
sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and
appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

My birthplace

I get to work SO close to the place where I was born almost 27 years ago. The other day I was actually able to go inside it because it's now just used for offices for the University of Colorado Denver Medical campus. It wasn't knocked down for historical reasons. It's the Fitzsimons Army Hospital. Kind of old and creepy, but cool at the same time! It was so good for me to be able to go into the place that I was born, and also where I stayed for 5 days when I was 2 years old, with Severe croupe with strider. The University Campus itself is quite new, it's all built around the hospital, which is in the center of campus.I'm enjoying my job. I like that it brings different challenges, and I really like the people I work with. They are all very friendly and helpful and fun. Not everyone in Colorado is mean! ;) It will take some time to learn everything, but I look forward to the challenge. It's amazing how much I have already learned, medical wise. I have a medical dictionary at my desk, and I can look up any word I'm not sure of when I come across it. I've already learned several! I think it's truly amazing what doctors do, and how much school they have been to. I work in the OB-GYN department, and there are 12 doctors who have specialized in something different, so that means 14 years of school. 8 of them are women, and 7 of them are married with a few children. How do they balance it all?! But it makes me very appreciative that people have a desire to become doctors and give up a lot of their time to help others. I was putting together some binders today, and I noticed how many patients commented on these particular doctors that I work for, how good they are. So far, they have been very kind to me!
So I moved to Colorado for an adventure, and I definitely had an adventurous event happen the other night. I can't post it on my blog for a few reasons, but if you are curious, give me a call and I'll fill you in! Definitely something I never thought I would experience!

The former Fitzsimons Army Hospital

John Kerry was also born in the Fitzsimons Army Hospital, just a cool fact I thought I would share with you. I got to see him in person in February when I was in DC and we went to the Capitol building. We got to see where all the Senators meet, and he was there, along with Ted Kennedy. I thought that was pretty awesome!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Embarrassing Moment..

My friend Hilary, who was my roommate my freshman year at USU, has moved to the Denver area as well, and we met up today and had lunch. It's been years since I've seen her! We got talking about people that lived by us, and memories we had. That was a great year living at Pine View apartments! I was reminded of a pretty embarrassing moment that I suffered through that year. We were in our spring semester, and I was in an English Literature class with Hilary, our roommate Hannah, and friends Jackie and Amanda. We despised this class, our teacher was psycho! We also had in our class a guy we liked to call the fireman, who always sat by us in class. Funny kid. Anywho, one particular day, our professor was in the front of the class (mind you, there were probably just about 30 of us, small class), reading something. I had dropped my pencil. So I decided I needed to pick it up. But the problem was, in this classroom, the seats were the ones like in high school that had the bar on the right connecting to the small desktop. My pencil had fallen to the right of the desk. So I thought, "I'll just reach over this bar, and pick it up." As you all know, I'm a short girl, so that means not only do I have short legs, my arms also aren't that long. So I reach over the bar and down to pick up my pencil. I had to reach so far that my desk tipped over. But the thing is, I didn't tip all the way over to the floor, I got jammed into the next desk over, belonging to the fireman! My legs are flailing, and I'm pleading for someone to help me. My roommates and friends were laughing too hard to do anything, as well as the fireman. So I'm left dangling for a bit. The best part is that the professor didn't stop the lecture, she just kept right on reading as if nothing was going on!! Finally, fireman pushed my desk back to normal and picked up my pencil. My friends and I couldn't stop laughing the rest of class and to this day if it's brought up, lots of laughs are shared. My friends that weren't in that class know it enough that they share it with others. So I thought I would share that pretty embarrassing moment with you all, great image huh?! Maybe next time I'll share my "coat getting stuck in the door" embarrassing moment. :)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Road Trip to Utah!

I work with the nicest and funnest people! So I had starting thinking a week ago that I would make a quick trip to Utah to see family and friends, maybe go to the BYU vs. USU football game. But because I had to buy a new battery for my car, gas money was gone. I went into the temp. work Thursday and told them about what happened and how I wanted to go to Utah, and they told me they were going for the weekend and I could ride with them. So I decided to do it! We left Friday morning and got to Utah around 7. I went to dinner with Laci at Chipotle, a place I've wanted to eat since I moved to Colorado, funny that I had it in Utah! (I loved it by the way). Then Laci and I went to Melinda's and played some rock band. Good times, I love that game! I stayed with Melinda that night, and then rode to Tremonton with her in the morning. I squealed with delight when I saw the Tremonton sign. You would have thought it had been years since I had been there, not 2 months! It was so good to be home. I treasured every minute. Hugging my sister, Katrina, I felt like I didn't want to let go, I was SO excited to see her! Jen brought my nieces over for a few hours, and I was so happy to be with them. I can't believe how much my niece Abbie has grown. She will be a year old next month. My brother Mick was working in Tremonton so he was able to come visit for a bit. We watched General Conference, and ate some good old Tremonton Taco Time, it's the best! Then I rode with Meggan back to Salt Lake that night and had dinner with my girls, and finally got to meet ShaLynn's boyfriend! Laci's roommate also dyed and cut my hair, something that was badly needed. I stayed with Laci that night, and watched the morning session of conference, and then headed back to Colorado. I had mixed feelings heading back, I was sad to leave my family but was also excited to return to Colorado at the same time. It's good for me to be here. I definitely miss Utah, but I definitely love Colorado!

Laci and I taking a break during Rock Band. I love this girl so much!
Melinda and I rocking out. I always have so much fun when I'm with her.
My niece Abbie. She has the prettiest big blue eyes I've ever seen. Click on this picture to make it bigger, and you will see what I mean!
Posing with my nieces. Libby isn't a fan of pictures, as you can tell :)I love these girls SO much. I was most excited to see them this weekend.
Dinner with my girls: Laci, Gail, Shay, and Megg. These girls have been a big part of my life, they are like sisters to me. It was so good to be with all of them. I love that Laci is cutting me off with her gorgeous hair!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

What A Day!

I had a second interview today with the OB/GYN at the University of Colorado Denver. On my way out to the parking lot, I ran into a boy, probably around the age of 16 who was frantic. The place to pay for parking was jammed with a dollar bill, and he couldn't pay. I went to my car to get some quarters to give him, and saw on my parking stub that I had paid for two hours and had only used one of them, so I just gave him the stub. He told me his mom had just been transferred there from another hospital, and he wanted to see her. He was so grateful for the stub, he almost cried. I couldn't help but think on my drive home about the movie Pay It Forward, and thought about how good it really feels to help someone in need. I love to serve! I felt like what occurred the rest of the day was a Pay It Backwards experience! I decided to get my oil changed, so went to the local Midas. then I felt like my car needed a good washing, so I treated it to the Express Car wash. Can I just say as a side note that it was the COOLEST car wash I've ever been in? I wish I had a video camera with me. I pulled in, a nice boy washed my windshield then instructed me to get on the track and put my car in neutral, and don't touch the steering wheel or brakes. What a cool ride! Anyway, so after I was vacuuming my car, so obviously I turned off my car. Well, when I was done, I tried to start my car and it wouldn't start. I started to panic because I'm extremely poor right now, and knew I couldn't afford a massive surgery to my car. I instantly thought it was due to the oil change I just had. I didn't know what to do, who to call. The usual males I call (My brother Mick, and my dad) were over 500 miles away in Utah. So I called Brady, who gave me Midas's number and told me what to tell them (Thanks Brady!) because my mind was gone. The guy said he was going to send someone to look at it. Well, I'm standing outside my car, waiting, and a nice guy at the car wash asked if I was okay. I explained my situation, and he said he would take a look. He noticed my battery was looking bad, and decided to try to jump my battery. It worked! He then gave me directions to the nearest Honda dealership. He definitely served me today! There is some great people here in Colorado, who definitely overshadow the not so nice people. So I get to the dealership, have my battery tested, which of course failed, and went in the waiting room. I proceeded to call my mom, and as always, I walk around when I talk. It's hard for me to hold still when I talk on the phone! I walked down the hall and passed a room, which just so happened to be occupied by a cute girl from my ward. I knew she worked at a car dealership but didn't know it was that particular one. So I chatted with her for 30 minutes, and she gave me a 15% discount, and invited Jessica and I to her house Sunday to eat breakfast and watch Conference. Another great act of service given to me! After getting home, I was able to talk to two of my really good friends (at different times) and have an uplifting conversation with both of them where I was reminded of the great things in life. Two more acts of service given! what a great day of reflection for me. I was able to give service to someone in need this morning, and was blessed 100 fold. It's true that we receive answers to prayers, and can be an answer to someones prayers through the ways that we serve. That's how God reaches us.
I'm really liking Colorado. It's starting to feel like my home. I'm so grateful for the experiences I am having here and the people I continue to meet and become friends with. I was reminded today to think about what I'm grateful for. Here's a list of a few:

I'm Grateful for:
-my parents who raised me by example to serve
-my brothers and sisters that love me unconditionally. I feel like since I have moved here, I have gained stronger relationships with them, and have come to really appreciate who they are and what they mean to me. I miss you guys!
-As always, my nieces and nephews. I couldn't ask for better ones. I'm grateful to Aspen and Libby for sending me the cutest letter that sent me to tears of gratitude because it came on a day I needed it most.
-True, supportive friends that remind me of what is good about me
-having a temp job that paid my rent.
-A kind word spoken
-my laptop to help me communicate
-fall-the smell of it, the colors of it
-the ability to hope
-music
-ice cream
-my institute teacher (He's AMAZING and has already taught me so much)
-people who are so willing to help a stranger in need
-answered prayers
-my car (Love you Cord!)
-Colorado mountains
-forgiveness
-having a mattress to sleep on
-Brady, Kristy, Hudson & Tate, the best neighbors ever.
-the temple
-good books to get lost in
-Meggan
-the Chicago Cubs making the playoffs
-a shared laugh
-the chance I have to be here to learn and grow
-the Savior's example for me on how to love others unconditionally (Thank you Jenna for that reminder. I'm grateful for you :) )
-the ability to change