Recipe for Fun

1. Fly to Arizona for a long weekend.
2. Welcome Elder Eric Oborn home from his mission to Uruguay.

Norine and Eric

Elizabeth, Sean, and Eric (yes he is 6 foot 5 inches)

3. Have an authentic mariachi band come to your home and play great music for 2 hours.

4. Spend time with lots of family members. (There were 40 people--all family.)

Sean, Steve, and Laura

Norine and Brynlee

5. Rent a soft-serve ice cream machine and have as much vanilla ice cream as you want. (no picture, but we really did have one)

6. Take family pictures. (I'll post them when I get them.)

7. 75 degree weather in the middle of January. Wow!! The 2 things we forgot to pack were shorts and swimsuits.

Record Breaking Stats!!

Happy New Year to you!!!

Working in labor and delivery on New Year's Eve has some exciting aspects to it. For one, I helped usher the first baby of 2009 (in the county) into this world at 12:31 am. It was a fun birthday party for sure. Also, I got to find out the 2008 stats. The total babies born at our hospital in the year 2008 ....drum roll please...................................4,798!!!! That's a lot of babies. This is the hospital's highest yearly total in 27 years. Just some random facts I thought I'd share.

Christmas in AZ

We had lots of fun in Arizona spending time with both our families over the Christmas holiday. Here are some of the random things we were up to while we were there.

We never did this on our one-year anniversary so here we are, 4 months late, cutting the top layer of our wedding cake. The cake wasn't too yucky actually but the frosting had seen better days. Sean thought this was a silly tradition but he did agree to at least take this picture with me.
We went to the Mesa Temple on Christmas Eve to see the lights and listen to the beautiful music. It was a fun outing and the weather was so mild. (Compared to Utah at least.)

Grammy and I spending quality time together. What a cutie she is. Love you Grandma.

We were lucky enough to go to the Orpheum Theater in Phoenix to see the play "The Forgotten Carols". I loved it even though I had seen it once before. We went with Sean's family and it was lovely. I think we should make it an annual tradition.

My mom received 8 hand bells from her visiting teachers as a gift and we thoroughly enjoyed playing songs together. Each of us got two bells and would ring them when our color came up. Here is the music below. It really was so much fun. We just laughed when we messed up and had a blast.

Santa was very generous to us this year and for that we are so grateful. Sean got his beloved I-Pod Touch and I got two tickets to the musical "Wicked" in April. We're thrilled. But even better than the gifts was the time we spent with family. Unfortunately I had to fly back on CHristmas night to work the next morning. We are so excited to return to Arizona in a couple weeks when Sean's brother Eric, returns home from his mission to Uruguay. Hooray for family.

Temple Lights

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we spent time with Sean's family up in Salt Lake. We braved the crowds to see the lights on Temple Square. Sean was feeling under the weather, so he was not able to join us. However, it was still a fun outing, and to top it off we saw Elder Perry and his wife.

I Love My Job!!!

Every day in labor and delivery is so different so I better hurry and write this post before I change my mind. =)

I really love my job. It is such an exciting and generally positive atmosphere. Birth is truly a miraculous event to take part in every day. People are so trusting of nurses and doctors and it is such a privilege to help them. I have to remind myself that even though I see deliveries every time I work, this is a huge deal for each individual family. It is so special for them and I try to remember that.

I had a patient yesterday who was so sweet. She said, "I'm so glad you're my nurse. You're so nice and helpful. Thank you so much for all your help." What a difference that makes in my day. I not only appreciate her kind words but it makes me want to be even better.

Another fun thing about being a labor and delivery nurse is that when women find that out, they immediately want to tell me their birth stories of when they had their kids. I actually like hearing about them and I like feeling included in the "mommy talk" even though I haven't had any of my own. (You know what I'm talking about. All the ladies at enrichment or wherever all talking about their labor and delivery experience.)

Being a nurse is a 24 hour job. (Or so I've learned.) Last weekend alone I think I got 4 "nurse calls" from random friends/ward members who need health advice. I always try to give helpful information but of course I don't remember everything from nursing school. Hopefully I can ease some fears of worried moms or moms-to-be.

I'm so grateful to be a nurse. And at least I know I'll always have a job because people will never stop getting pregnant. =)

My Hubby

What is your husband's name? Sean Bennett

What is the nickname you call him? Seanie (although my mom hates it when I call him that because she had a girlfriend in high school named Shawny)

How long have you been married? 15 months

How long did you date? We met in 7th grade and were friends through junior high and high school. We dated our senior year and then Sean left on a mission to Argentina and I went to BYU. We started dating when Sean got home and got married a year later.

How old is he? 23

Who eats sweets? Both of us...we love monkey bread, caramel, candy, cheesecake, anything yummy.

Who said 'I love you' first? Sean did...what a brave soul he is. I responded with "really?"

Who is taller? Sean is...by a whopping 9 inches. I like it that way because it's the perfect cuddle height and I can wear tall shoes anytime.

Who does the laundry? Both of us. Mostly I do though because he is busy with school and I'm home during the days since I work nights at the hospital.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're looking straight at the bed then I sleep on the right and Sean sleeps on the left. He has to be able to hang his right arm over the edge and that side faciliates it best. =)

Who mows the lawn? Well we live in an apartment so we don't mow the lawn. But I know for a fact that some day when we do have our own house, Sean will mow the lawn. He talks about how he can't wait to have a yard and a garden to landscape and work outside. I wonder if he'll always feel that way. =)

Who kissed who first? Sean kissed me first but being the very polite gentleman that he is, he asked before he made the move. How sensitive. Our first kiss was when I was 17 and he was 18.

Who asked who out first? I asked Sean out on our very first date. My friend (Hilary) and I planned it and we went out on the lake on her boat and played games and ate pizza on the water. Then we went back to her house and made sundaes. It was in January so I remember it being a little cold but lots of fun. Sean made the next move and asked me out 8 months later. Don't rush into anything honey. =)

I can truly say I am married to my best friend and couldn't be happier. This week I was sick (sore throat, runny nose, cough, congestion) and when I woke up from my sleep after a night shift he had made me homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch. He even made the noodles from scratch, rolled them out, cut them, and cooked them. Before I met Sean I didn't even know you could make noodles from scratch. What a catch!!! Thanks babes.

I tag: Laura P., Jami H., Hilary W. (you can tell about your fiance), and anyone else who wants to.

Burt the Turkey

Last night we had a fun, fall ward party. We first ate a Thanksgiving dinner (probably my only one this year since I have to work). There was a large pumpkin on every table as part of the centerpiece. Then after dinner, the activity was for the couples at each table to turn their pumpkin into a turkey with limited supplies. All we could use were pipe cleaners, colorful puffy balls, big popsicle sticks, plastic eyes, a plastic knife, and a little super glue. Everyone's creations were a little different but very cute. We had probably 10-15 minutes to create it and then the judges came around to evaluate. We are proud to announce that our table won the best overall turkey!!!! It was actually really fun and people got into it. It was easy and much cleaner than carving pumpkins. No one wanted to take our's home so I jumped at the chance. Now Burt the Turkey greets anyone that comes to our apartment. Notice his little feet and his glimmery toe nails (one fell off before we got home). Happy Thanksgiving!!!!