It's beginnning to FEEL a lot like Christmas

It sure doesn't look like Christmas with our bright, sunny, not-snowy days here in Provo. But it's beginning to feel like Christmas because of all the fun things happening! I just wanted to post some of our Christmas-ish activities and pictures of our cozy apartment. The fun started last Wednesday when we decorated our apartment.
Here's our three-foot Christmas tree. Cute, huh? I even bought Evergreen spray from Bath & Body Works to make it smell real.

The stockings (we haven't figured out one for Mini yet)

This is the other side of the room--I love the cozy feeling with dark room and warm Christmas lights

I love Christmas trinkets (definitely my mother's daughter)

And my favorite part is the olive wood nativity with the lights behind--Adam did it


Then Friday Meg and I (and Scotty and Mini) went to the Festival of Trees. It's impossible to go there without feeling Christmas-y! I love going there and was pleased with my self control in not crying this year! Here's the cute tree Mom did with her Achievement Day girls.


I love this amazing gingerbread castle. (Look at the people for a frame of reference on its size.)

Then Saturday was the ward Christmas party at Aspen Grove. We enjoyed the great food and company and watching "Mr. Krueger's Christmas."

Then Sunday I was (happily) put on call for my shift at the hospital, sitting in our cozy family room watching the First Presidency Fireside, when I got a frantic call from the hospital saying "Where are you?!!" There had been a mistake and I wasn't supposed to be on call. It just made for a busy shift, getting there an hour late.

I ended up having a cool experience with one of my patients though. I didn't get report on him, so all I knew about him was that he was there for a new diagnosis of diabetes. I got talking to him and he told me his crazy story. He'd been driving on the freeway when he all of a sudden went completely blind. (I have NEVER heard of that--usually the blindness comes on gradually.) Anyway, he managed to pull over, called 911, and the dispatcher didn't believe him and hung up. So he was sitting in his car alone, totally helpless. Then he said a complete stranger got in his car and asked him if he was OK. He told the man he needed to go to the hospital, so without another word (literally, the whole way) this man drove him from Grand Junction, Colorado to Provo (UVRMC). When they got to the ER, he handed my patient his keys and was gone. (That night Adam and I read Elder Holland's talk about there being angels among us--this man must have been an angel.)

Anyway, my patient was really struggling with the diagnosis, the life-style change, the blindness, etc, which is very understandable. He hadn't been able to talk to anyone about it though so I listened for about 20 minutes as he vented and unloaded all his anger and frustration. I don't think I said two words, just listened. After hearing him, I called the doctor, who prescribed some anxiety medication. But 30 minutes later he was still really upset, so I called the doctor, who was wonderful and came up to talk to him herself. She prescribed a different medication, but she also just listened to him.

As I left that night, this patient thanked me for caring and being willing to help him. His last words to me were, "I want you to know that you changed someone's life tonight." It really meant a lot to me. I have a lot of stressful, thankless moments as a nurse, but moments like this make it worth it.

Well, sorry this has gotten really long. I guess it's journaling for me more than anything. One final picture--this sums up Adam's Christmas spirit! I'm SO excited for him to be done with finals! I'm also proud of him for studying so hard. To make it more fun for him and me, I'm doing the Twelve Days of Finals to him. It's exciting trying to find different ways to surprise him.