Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,
I just want to start by saying that I am a dear friend and love to be in your company. But the reason I am writing this letter is to inform you that some of your recent actions have been unkind and unfair. I am only writing because so many people have ill feelings toward you after your lash out this week. Have you recently gone through a break up and you need to talk about it or something? Whatever is going on in your life right now, please settle it so that you can get back to normal and restore Springtime peace and serenity to Provo. Let me show you what I mean exactly:
Snow on the blossoms and slush on the ground is no way to END a winter semester, Mother Nature.

Even the ducks agree with me. They told me that while they enjoy playing in the rain, snow is just too cold for April.

The blossoms are trying to come out, please let them!

Does this look like a cure for Season Affective Disorder to you?

Damaging valuable BYU property is not the answer to your problems. These pavilions are used for students who normally want to enjoy your company in the Spring weather. Now they are ruined because they have 10 inches of snow inside:

This is not the way that BYU is supposed to look on April 15th.

So Mother Nature, please bring Spring. We've had enough winter this year. It's time to move on.

Sincerely,
Your concerned friend

It's lookin up!

I thought I would give everyone an update that life is lookin up! I had a rough goin the last few days, but things are so much better now! Life is good and back on track! :) Today was the last day of classes (HOOOORRRRAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and it was fantabulous! I only have two tests left! And I am not going to get kicked out of nursing school! (It's a long sob story, and I'd rather not share it...). Today I gave myself my birthday present. I chopped off all my hair. I've been wanting to for a while, and I did it! I can actually hold my head up now! Plus, I had enough cut off that I'm donating it to Locks of Love. My hair hasn't ever been this short though, it's going to take some getting used to. More awesome news to share: I leave for England in only 15 days!!! Notice my countdown on the sidebar :). I can't wait, it is going to be so awesomely awesome!!!!!!! Another thing I thought I would let you know, is that the group of us going to England has started a "group blog" that all 6 of us will update to keep in touch with friends and family back home. When there is a new post, it will raise to the top of the blog list on the right hand side >>>>> The blog's name is "Glorius Summer." If you don't understand what I'm saying then just periodically check this website for updates on the trip:

http://byuenglandnurses.blogspot.com/

I just want to say that I am so blessed and so grateful for everything in my life right now! Trials are given to us for a reason and I have learned so much in the last ten days!

LOVE YOU!!!!
-Candice

Reverse Psychology

So many bad things are happening right now, I need to focus on what's been good in my life over the last couple days before I have a panic attack. So I'm trying to use some reverse psychology on myself:
--I went to Cheesecake Factory today.
--I played frisbee on Tuesday in the middle of campus.
--I got 6 hours of sleep last night.
--My brother got his permit (not sure if that's a good thing....) just kidding, bud =)
--I had some Oreo, mint chocolate chip ice cream cake yesterday.
--I wore shorts yesterday.
--I really connected with my patient on Thursday and Friday even though she was the neediest, most busiest, most yuckiest patient I've had, ever.
--I had tea and biscuits today in my culture class.
--I got my new backpack from the study abroad office.

It's official

It's official. I'm freaking out. I hate the end of the semester, it kills me. I have 7 tests, a paper, two presentations and two days of clinical to complete in the next 11 days!!!! On top of everything I am the family home evening mom in my group, and we have this ward Oscar night and we have to make movie. So far it's been like pulling teeth to get people to cooperate and come. Tonight we got kicked out of the library while filming...oops :) It was fun though, and we caught the security guard in action which is even better so we'll put it in the movie!

I changed the layout to London because it will remind me that there is light at the end of the tunnel and I am so close!!!

But really, this is how I am feeling right now:

The Festival of Colors

In Spanish Fork (about 15 minutes away from Provo) there is a Hindu temple, the Hare Krishna. Every Spring, there is a Festival of Colors to encourage the Hindu deity, Krishna to welcome in the season. It consists of a huge party of about 10,000+ people, colored chalk dust throwing, Indian music, dancing, food, and a whole lot of fun! This was the first year that I have gone and I won't miss it again! It was so busy though (we parked about 2.5 miles down the street and had to walk) that we missed the actual chalk throwing but ran into the middle of the crowd as soon as we got there so we could still get colors all over us. It was awesome!
Everyone dancing to the band. I had my camera inside a ziplock for some of these so the blur may make the pictures look a little off.
My good friend Jolysa and I in the mix of it all. Someone through a fist full in her face of hot pink powder.
Crowds and crowds of people there. That's the shot of the temple.
More dancing!
People kept throwing their shoes up on the roof of the pavilion. I don't think they got them back...
A shot from the base of the temple looking down on the crowd.
Jolysa's bright pink face :)
Chillaxin afterwards. We went out for Indian food after. I think half of Utah Valley had the same idea. But the food was worth the wait! I have a new found love of Indian food :)
A happy camper at the end of the day!

Procrastinating

I'm mostly doing this because I'm procrastinating cleaning my room. :-/ But let's see if you learn something new!

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS
1. Heroes
2. Lost
3. The Office
4. House
5. NCIS
6. ER
7. I can't think of 2 more...
8.

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. Went to culture class for England
2. Went groceries
3. Cleaned out the fridge
4. Chanted to a Hindu diety (more on this later (-: )
5. Got covered from head to toe in colored chalk
6. Got stuck in a mosh pit
7. Went to an Indian restaurant, still covered in chalk
8. Washed the chalk off
I bet you're thinking, "huh? what is she talking about?" just you wait!

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. Graduating
2. The end of this semester
3. Going to England
4. Traveling Europe
5. Seeing my mom in two weeks
6. Having a clean room
7. Cutting my hair
8. Having a real job

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Puerta Vallarta
2. Olive Garden
3. Chili's
4. Carl's Jr.
5. Costa Vida
6. CPK
7. I don't eat out enough...
8.

8 THINGS ON MY WISHLIST
1. To pass the NCLEX (like the Bar exam for nurses)
2. To have a family
3. To win the lottery without gambling :)
4. An ipod
5. Better habits at keeping my room clean
6. For this semester to be over
7. Getting a job in an area I want after graduation
8. Having a summer romance

8 PEOPLE I TAG
1. I hate this part. Do it if you want :)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

HERE I COME!!!!

Updates, updates!!! Finally I know what I'm doing this summer, remember way back when I told you I was going to England for study abroad, well I FINALLY got details on Saturday at our first meeting about what is happening, and I am sooooo-soooooooo-sooooo excited. This is going to be a summer that I will have in the books for the rest of my life!

The group of six students, plus our instructor, will be going to the University of Huddersfield, it is located about 3 hours north of London, and about a 45 minute drive from Manchester.
I made a little red dot, about where the town is. We will be working in the hospital four days a week, for four weeks. In the dorms we stay at, each of us get our own room and bathroom! This will be the first time ever that I will have my own bathroom, so cool!! The hospitals in England are very infection-control-oriented, meaning everyone that works in the hospital has to wear special hospital issued scrubs so that they don't bring in bugs on their clothes. Everyone is swabbed for MRSA frequently, no name tags, watches, rings, or nails. As a result, their MRSA levels are way lower than the US, so I guess it's working.

On our three day weekends, we have to decide what we want to do as a group. We can go the Lake District (I guess this is a beautiful part of England that lots of rich people have summer homes in), go to the place where they filmed Pride and Prejudice, Leeds, Manchester (I want to see if there might be an off season game that we can go to). My instructor's sister lives in Scotland on a large farm and has offered for us to come stay at their place for a weekend too. After our four weeks of clinical are up, we will spend a week frolicking about London. We will hopefully see a few shows; Jude Law is currently starring in Hamlet, there is also an outdoor performance of Peter Pan in one of the large gardens.

After our week is over in England and "school" has ended, a few of us are going to stay. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that is never going to present itself again! I won't ever have a whole summer like this that I have the freedom from obligations or responsibility or the time. We are going to stay 4-5 more weeks and see Europe. Personally, I want to spend the most time in Italy and Greece. These are places that I have always wanted to visit and see. It has been a dream of mine since I started learning about it in seventh grade, but it was always been just that. A fantasy and a dream. Well, now it's going to be a reality. I'M GOING TO SEE EUROPE!!!! Every time I say it, I get more and more excited! We hopefully will travel around and see every thing that we want to and then head back to London in time to catch Wimbledon, and then finish what we didn't get to see in England like the Jane Austen house, Stratford on Avon, anything else. I have a lot of family history in southern England that I hope to be able to explore while I'm there too!

I've started asking around to people I know have been there on study abroads, or missions, or vacations what they think the best places to see are, or the best hostels to stay at, best way to travel, little things that tourists don't know about. If you have suggestions for us, they are most certainly welcomed!

So, watch out world, HERE I COME!!!!