The bittersweet end of summer and the beginning of my last semester...

Whoa. The reason that summer is so irresistible is that I am always down for a spur-of-the-moment bonfire or a hike up at Zion. So in honor of summer's end, I am going to maintain my spontaneity (as my free-time permits). Since school starts tomorrow and this is St. George, colder weather doesn't come in until November, so really it is the end of my freedom. Here is an update of what has happened since my last update in the middle of July...

First time going up to the cabin at the ranch with no supervising adults! It was a blast. Good food, camp fires, dance parties, great friends, and outdoorsy stuff.

Meet Christian Bankowski. He is a cool kid working at the mall like me. We like to go to the batting cages and I kick his butt at go-karts.

 We also went to Kanarraville Falls on a day off. Beautiful weather and the water was perfect. So much fun.

 Definitely a highlight of my summer, doing a native american photo shoot at the Red Cliffs Hike. Thanks to Flicker & Fitch Photography.

 I spent 3 weekends in a row up in Salt Lake with the fam bonding and stuff. Mason got a Go-Kart (he is starting 7th grade!) and Madi is way more athletic then I could ever dream to be (she is a Sophmore!)

 Us girls went to the Brad Paisley Concert at Usana Amphitheater and then all of us went to the drive-in movies!

 My friend's little girl Casey did my hair when I went to visit. Super cute, I think I could rock that look.

 Went to Sand Hollow one day with Christian. I got a new swimming suit (loving it). He fished (caught one!) while I read a magazine, got a tan, and talked his ears off.

To end it all with a bang, I went to the Sudweeks family reunion up at the cabin at Strawberry (that sunset!). I played with this adorable white golden retriever puppy that I want to steal, and paddle boarded for the first time!
Well it has been a blast, I loved every second of it. Now it's back to me thinking of the future and what is in store for me. Last semester of nursing school and I can start working as a Registered Nurse in February! As usual, living the dream and keeping it fresh.

Love, Tash

Here's to my grandparents...

I am dedicating this to my lovely 6 grandparents (yes, 6, I am so lucky). I have bookmarked my blog in all of their technological devices and I want them to know how much I love them! This is somewhat of my prayer for each of them that they stay healthy as long as possible because I don't want to think about how life will be without them.

These are the Jorgenson's. I have many happy memories like making my grandpa pull me in the little wagon up until I was obviously too big for it. We would go to the nearby park and swing on the swings or fly kites if it was windy. They had a cat, Chester, that I practically tortured when I was younger, squeezing her and pretending she was my baby. I still enjoy picking pomegranates from their old tree even though they moved to Nephi last year after being in St. George my whole life. Thanks to Grandma for introducing me to Cher, which led me to my love of the 80's. We used to do a lot of jigsaw puzzles together and I have seen every Shirley Temple movie on their living room couch. I love you both.

Meet the Thorley's. They have the Thorley Ranch up Kolob Canyon near Zion National Park. Of course the ranch has always been a place for gatherings and reunions with the whole family. My grandma is especially fond of creating scavenger hunts and games to stir up some healthy competition and bonding. Decorating the 4th of July cheesecake turned into my job that I have been proud to continue for many years. It has been a real treat living down in St. George and being able to go have Sunday dinner with them. I look forward to grandma's cooking each week. My grandpa always has an opinion about something so we have good conversations too. I love you both.

Last but certainly not least, Mr. and Mrs. Sudweeks. My first memory of my grandma is when I called her Deanna after I met her (I was 3), she hugged me and said, "Oh honey, call me grandma!" She has so many awesome matching outfits from basically every country that she has visited (almost 80!) and jewelry to match. Multiple motor home trips with a group of cousins, cherry tree picking, I still have all my crafts that I have made at their house and I will always keep those. Hours and hours playing with cousins in the backyard and eating Mickey Mouse waffles. My grandpa is the one of the most logical people I know. His specializes in randomness. I can ask him about anything and he will tell me something about it. He also has countless jokes that he pulls out randomly. I love you both.

I can't wait for more memories with these incredible people that have influenced me in many ways to be the person I am today and the person I want to still become.

Love, Tash

Nothing Good Ever Comes Out Of Being Negative...

Whoa. Let's start with my back story of how I got this motto.
I was at one of my last clinicals this past semester on the acute rehabilitaion unit. I had a patient who just found out the day before that he had a brain tumor that was sure to kill him in a matter of months. He also had 2 young daughters and a wife. This man was, obviously, struggling. I asked the nurse I was following how she handles these emotional situations since I was ready to cry in front of this man and that wasn't going to help him at all. So, she gets the credit for my motto. Recently, my dad has picked up on this as well and that has been very beneficial for him.

I have a humbling video to share today. Logan and Kristen Clifford are by far some of the strongest people I have had the priviledge to know. I hope you feel inspired.

Pay It Forward: Logan and Kristen Clifford | KUTV.com

A few sentences that can change your perspective on life:

Go where you are celebrated, not where you are tolerated.
Everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.
Comfort is the enemy of achievement.
Be so happy that when others look at you, they become happy too.
Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Break the habit. Talk about your joys.

Summer is going way too fast...

Whoa, a lot is going on! Which is awesome since this is my last summer in St. George! So, since my last post, I went to Las Vegas for a little Sudweeks family reunion. I got to hang out with my older cousins and get hit on by old creeps at the casinos. Always an interesting experience on the strip.

I also went to the best party I have been to in a long time and I say it was the best because it was The Great Gatsby themed with 1920's attire. So much fun and I definitely did not get enough pictures from that night.

Then the next weekend I spent 4 days in California with the fam and we went to SIX FLAGS! Lagoon will never be the same, in fact, I will never go again. Such a great adrenaline rush from those roller coasters. I also left with a justice league shirt and superman ring (nerd pride).

Finally, just yesterday, I made it to Zions with some friends. We went tubing down the river to escape the heat of St. George (112 degrees) and even though Zions was 96 degrees, the water was 63, so perfect. Amazingly, I did not get burned (hallelujah).

Here's your wordly insight from me for the day:
Fight for your happiness rather than waiting for something or someone to hand it to you.

Catching up...

Whoa. It's been a minute and a lot has been happening! I started summer classes (boring) and a new job (exciting!). The job is at the mall selling sunglasses and my favorite part is watching people, its quite entertaining. I made an old man's day this week when I told him where to find eyedrops (cute?).

Last weekend the Thorley family had a reunion of sorts up at the ranch for a couple days and that is always fun and outdoorsy. We played kickball as a family and my grandpa (73 years old) is for sure the most competitive of us all.

I also finally finished painting my friend's grandma's bedroom, bathroom, and hallway. That was a lot harder then I expected and took forever.

This is me, staying busy. My life is like this run-away train and everyone else is on a station platform. So I say, get on this freaking train or I am leaving because this girl is going places.






Love, Tash

Summer is definitely here.

Whoa. First off, happy Memorial Day and a big thank you goes out to those that have previously and are currently serving in the military.

A couple weeks ago I helped my friend Christopher Clifford open his table at the St. George farmers market. He hand makes and sells these awesome wooden toys. Check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CliffordAndSonsMFG?ref=ss_profile I am also constantly over at the Clifford home with Tasha and her little boys that are basically teenagers. Morgan (4 1/2), Wyatt (3), and Luke (18 months).

I also paused my summer for 3 days to do a big expensive review for the NCLEX I have to take in January (I guess it was worth it since the company that hosts the review is guaranteeing that I will pass the first time). That weekend I went hiking with a few girlfriends up and around Snow Canyon (got lost for a minute, no big deal). We later made it to the Tuachan Saturday Market and got some killer street tacos. Then just this last week, I went to Morgan Clifford's preschool graduation and later we all made Swig's sacred sugar cookies with NEON frosting (thanks pinterest).

This past weekend I made my way up to Salt Lake City for some family bonding time. I hung out with my Mom, then went up to the cabin (location: Strawberry Reservoir north of Heber City) and had a blast! Good food, camp fires, dirt bikes, target shooting, and laughing with very entertaining friends.

To top it all off I met my incredible best friend Tasha at Trader Joe's (my first time and I want to live there) and then we drove back down to St. Geezy together. Life is great.

Love, Tash

My attempt at a 5-year plan...

Whoa. I am an organizer and a planner. It is how I function is this crazy world. However, I also understand that this crazy world likes to throw unplanned events at me on a regular basis.

My plan originally was to get done with school then do traveling nursing all over for a few years. I later found out that I would need many years of experience before I can run around as a traveling nurse.
Then I started looking into Alaska because of the great salary benefits but coming to the conclusion that Alaska would be a difficult place to live and the cost of living would out-weigh the large salary. That last frontier is way too cold and dark for this warm and sunny girl.

So here I am with this future plan and I am anxiously waiting to see if it will work out the way I want it to (yeah, right): I graduate from Dixie's associate nursing program in December 2013, taking the NCLEX (Registered Nurse licensing test) in January 2014, currently looking into moving to Texas (cost of living not much higher than Utah, no state tax, and a high demand for nurses), start Dixie's online bachelor's degree program August 2014, have my BSN by July 2015, go to Europe for a few months, find another job somewhere cool (maybe central California), get an awesome living space full of pinterest inspiration (puppy included), find a great guy that my dad accepts, get married after I'm 25, travel a bunch more, start a family, live happily forever, and I will retire and continue to do awesome things.

“I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown. Eat interesting food. Dig some interesting people. Have an adventure. Be careful. Come back and you’re going to see your country differently, you’re going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You’re going to get a sense of what globalization looks like. And that for some people, their day consists of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can’t get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight. A lot of people—Americans and Europeans—come back and go, ohhhhh. And the light bulb goes on.”
― Henry Rollins

Love, Tash

Living the dream, keeping it fresh...

Well, here it is guys! I have been thinking about this for awhile and figured I better start it now with school being over and all. My plan for this blog is to just update friends and family of what is going on with me and stay connected. No crazy stuff (unless I feel it is necessary) and hopefully a good time all around.

So let's begin. Finals are over and I ended up with much better grades then expected when I started the hardest semester ever back in January. I went up to Draper (where I'm from) to see the family. My sister and I helped my dad update his wardrobe ("But Tash I don't want to look like I'm trying to be in my 20s when I am in my 40s.") and apparently pea coats are gay. Then we went and saw Oblivion (Tom Cruise looks gooood).

I was able to visit my good friend Nichole and her boyfriend Aaron and their HUGE chocolate lab Grizz (Grizzly Bear...no joke.). I had a chocolate lab growing up and this beast is twice the size of mine and he is still a puppy. What a cutie though.

Saturday, May 4th, Dad, Madi (14), Mason (12), and I all got our family pictures done. I am very impressed with Target (Groupon that). Then Madi and I went with Mom to Thanksgiving Point and had ourselves a good time at the tulip festival (I want to get married there! Not anytime soon obviously). We also discovered that Madi is an awesome photographer!

Later that night I babysat my adorable cousins that I love so much and Cambria is my very best friend (She's 3) because she said she wants to "poop and pee in the big girl potty like her best friend Tash". Love her.

That was Salt Lake trip last week and now I am working in a boring gray cubicle because money does buy happiness (whoever said it doesn't is a boring person because I could totally find lots of awesome things to do if I had a ton of money). And for those of you questioning my "Tash Point Whoa" (which came from the comedian Daniel Tosh who's show is Tosh.0 so I introduce myself to others my age by say "I am Tash like Tosh point oh."). Credit is given to my amazing best friend Tasha for coming up with the whoa-ness.

Definition of WHOA: cease or slow a course of action or a line of thought : pause to consider or reconsider —often used to express a strong reaction (as alarm or astonishment)

 

Love, Tash