hump day.

on learning.
i know i have said it before. and i am positive that i will say it again. life is precious. that is what i have really been learning these last couple of weeks. i will be honest, work lately has been hard. emotionally. physically. mentally. spiritually. seeing horrible things. seeing heartache. seeing young people taken before their time. that's not new. being the one people lean on and turn to during heartache. that's new.

i am learning. i am learning what it means to be that person that people can turn to when their world has been shaken. i am learning. i am learning to find that balance between caring and becoming too attached. i am learning how not to take work home with me. i am learning what it means to be christ's caring hands to the people of inglewood and south central.

i am not going to lie, this job is the hardest thing i have ever done. saying that i haven't cried multiple times when driving home would be a lie. i want to do my job well. i want to make a difference. sometimes i think maybe i want that too much.

life is precious. that reminder makes me want to do things. it makes me want to love and cherish those around me. it makes me not want to live in fear. it makes me want to live for the moment. it makes me want to say i love you more.

life is precious. make sure you are living like it.


[january 2009. new york with college roommates devon and charissa. love and miss them.]

slowing down.

so as i mentioned in my last post, i went to yosemite with my parents last week. yes, i was just there in july with kara and detoy, but i just cannot get enough of this place. i cannot express the relief that i feel when i am out in nature. i feel like i can breath. i wish i felt like that more often.

this trip to yosemite was much different than my last few trips. first, i went with my parents. this was my first time camping with them in over ten years. crazy, i know. camping with my parents was just such a different pace than when i go camping with other youngsters. my parents take their time. there is never any rush. they enjoy the scenery, the sights and sounds, and make sure that they are simply relaxing. it was actually, quite relaxing. we didn't hike half dome, and it actually was nice to have a little break and enjoy some shorter hikes around the valley.

and also, it was just nice to spend some good quality time with my parents. i know that i am definitely very blessed to have parents that i am close to and that i am welcome to go camping with. spending the weekend with them was filled with a lot of reminiscing, laughing, and simply enjoying being with each other.

we did run into a little bit of rain on the saturday that we were there, but besides that, the weather was absolutely beautiful. yosemite in the fall is definitely going to need to become a tradition, because it was stunning. now i just need to experience yosemite in the winter, it looks and sounds incredible.

my mini vacation recharged me. it reminded me that i am blessed. it reminded me that God is watching over me and has a big plan for my life. it reminded that i have been given so many opportunities, and that i need to embrace all of them, even when they are challenging.

round two.

it has been a long week. but guess what, it's ok, because i'm outta here!
yosemite or bust! that's right, round two at yosemite baby! i randomly had five days off in a row, and my parents were planning a trip this weekend, and so i just went ahead and invited myself [can you blame me? yosemite= my favorite place in the world].

so i am so excited to get away for the weekend, and to spend some time with my parents, it has probably been a good ten years since i have been camping with them. so, peace out los angeles. i'll see ya sunday, i have a much overdue date with the great outdoors.


[source]

hello mid-twenties.

holy guacamole, when did birthday number 24 get here? no, but seriously. it is crazy that i am already [basically] in my mid-twenties. shoot.

when i was approaching my birthday this year, i definitely tried to come from a different angle than normal. i will be completely honest, i usually have a major breakdown around the time of my birthday. why? you might ask. i guess i have seen birthdays as a marking of another year passing and i have not accomplished so many things that i wish i had. or i feel depressed because i am not at a place in my life that i thought i would be at age [insert appropriate number here]. the past few years i have been the epitome of a debbie downer around my birthday, and i definitely did not want that to be the case this year.

i really tried to remind myself that even though i may not be in the exact place i want be right, i have accomplished so much for finishing up my 23rd year, and i wanted to embrace that. i wanted to take this birthday and have it be filled with rest, relaxation, and spending it with the people that i love.

so, tuesday morning, i woke up nice and early to get ready to go to san diego to see the family. but first things first, i downloaded lady antebellum's new cd [which is amazing! and it being released on my bday was so awesome!] so i would have new tunes to listen to on the road! i finished getting ready, then headed over to starbucks to pick up a pumpkin spice latte [one of my personal fall favorites] and hit the road!

when i got to san diego, my mom and i took my nephews to the wild animal park for the morning. it was so much fun to get to spend time with those boys, and it was such a joy to see them so excited about all the animals!

we headed back to my parent's house at around 2 and put the boys down for their naps, had some lunch, and then mom and i headed down to the mall for some shopping and to refuel on some coffee. it was so good to get to spend the afternoon with mom. she is such an incredible woman and i am so blessed by her love and thoughtfulness. spending the afternoon with her made me wish i lived closer to my family.

when mom and i were done at the mall, we headed back to my parent's house for dinner with my whole family. it was so good to spend time with everyone. it doesn't get to happen that often. we had chicken roll ups for dinner, and then cream lilies for dessert [both of which are mom specialties and so good!]. we then opened some presents, where i got the best present ever, my very own tent!! time to go camping!

the next day, i got to spend the evening with some good/old friends at the cheesecake factory in redondo beach! it was so much fun to just spend a relaxing night enjoying great company and catching up with people that i love! after dinner, kara and i went and saw contagion, which was so good! [wash your hands people].

overall, such a good birthday. thank you all for making it special and for showering me with love! and now a few moments from the couple of days of celebrations. enjoy!

the end is not near, it's here.

it is official. i am no longer an emt. my profession, er nurse. woah. crazy.

my last day at mccormick was friday. it was kind of surreal. as we all went to bed that night i made the comment that i may never run another 911 call again. what a weird concept. i absolutely love the field. i love emergency medicine. and to think that i may never be apart of it again, is just weird.

but i will say, the past couple of shifts, i have felt so loved, and so appreciated. it started on wednesday, when i was surprised by my managers and coworkers with a going away dinner at chiles. there was about 20 people [managers, the owner, off duty coworkers, on and off duty supervisors, and another on duty crew from south inglewood] that surprised me. i was just floored. it was so great to get to spend some time with people that have been a huge part of my life for so long.

and then friday. the day started off with getting a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my coworker stanley. it was so thoughtful, and it definitely made me teary eyed. then came detoy and stanley playing boys to men, coldplay, greenday, etc. all with the hopes of making me have a break down. i stood strong. for the most part. detoy and i then put ourselves first up all day, so we could run as many calls possible.

for my last dinner, i made pasta salad [shout out to mama minnick and her famous recipe!], garlic bread, and caeser salad. besides the normal crew, my old partner katie, my friend bryce, and the valley supervisor matt came. oh, and for dessert, we had a bomb chocolate molten cake. i will be sharing the recipe soon. it was so great to get to celebrate the closing of a chapter with good friends thanks for coming guys!

after we finished dinner at the station, we made our way over to fire station 173 for second dessert. the captain was so thoughtful and had a cake made for me it said congratulations on your new job! i was blown away by his thoughtfulness. even though it is good to be moving on, it is moments like that that are going to make me miss this job.

it has been a great 2 1/2 years. i have met some amazing people and have learned so much. i grew up here. this place helped me learn who i am and who i need to be. friday marked the end of an era. an amazing era. thank you station 9. thank you mccormick. thank you for being my family and teaching me about life. it has been a privilege and blessing to work along side you. love you all. mean it.


[after dinner at chiles.]


[beginning of my last shift.]


[top: last dinner!]
[bottom: me and rosser.]


[my old partner katie.]


[top: me and matt.]
[bottom: me and bryce.]


[rockin the helment shield that the station got me for graduation.]


[me and detoy. going to miss working with this kid.]


[me and stanley.]


[standard. love them.]


[me with a shift.]








rock on party people.

white collared shirt.

as i mentioned in my previous blog, my brother came and stayed with me for a couple days. it was so much fun getting to spend some time with him especially since that isn't something that happens that often! the main reason that he came up was because the two of us were riding out with lacofd fire station 14 in south central los angeles. this is one of the stations that i have been running with during my time with mccormick, so it definitely was fun being on the other side of things! the ride along was awesome. all of the guys were so helpful and so enthusiastic about having us there. it ended up being not that busy of a day, which was very surprising, so we ended up having a lot of time to drill at the station. we got to practice throwing ladders, putting on scba's [air tanks], etc. the day really got to expose nathan to the fire service, which is what i wanted to do [since he is thinking about pursuing firefighting]. and it was also just a great day to get to know the guys from station 14 better. i have been working alongside them for 2 1/2 years, and it was just awesome to actually get to have time to talk to them and hear more about their life stories. so, fire station 14, thank you. thank you for a great day and some awesome memories! i am so glad that i still get to see you guys when i am working as a nurse!
that reminds me, side note. i got my official start date for my new job. my first day as a nurse is going to be august 18th. which makes my last day at mccormick august 12th. eeeeeee. so. many. mixed. emotions. but more on that later. here are some photos from the day...enjoy!


[nathan at fire station 14.]


[nathan's first time throwing ladders!]


[ffpm duran and ffpm montgomery showing him the ropes.]


[my turn to practice throwing a 14ft ladder one man.]




[nathan with engine and squad 14.]


[top: nathan and i with ffpm montgomery.]
[bottom: nathan and i with ffpm duran, ffpm montgomery, ffpm conner, and captain gus. thank you guys! it was great!]


[nathan and i sporting our new 14s t-shirt!]

greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
john 15:13

this week.

this week. let me sum it up in a couple words...busy but then again, who is surprised by this and fun. ok. let me talk about my week.

yesterday:
so yesterday was my first day teaching at UCLA on my own. going into the day, i was a teansy nervous. i was teaching simulations [sim·u·la·tion –noun 1. imitation or enactment, as of something anticipated or in testing. 2. the act or process of pretending; feigning. 3. an assumption or imitation of a particular appearance or form; counterfeit; sham.]. the first couple of rotations were a little rough [that's what she said], but the last two went really well. it definitely felt good getting over that first day of being on your own. i am really looking forward to my next day of teaching. i am honestly really loving this job.

today/wednesday:
serving the citizens of inglewood aka working.

thursday:
ok, so this is when it starts to get fun. first, i get to fill out new hire paperwork at my new job woooooo!!!!! thank you woo girls. then i am driving to san diego to pick up my younger brother and the family dog lola! and bringing them back to los angeles. because, on friday....

friday:
my brother and i are going on a ride along with fire station 14 . my brother is considering pursuing the fire service, so i figured what a better way to show him what ems is all about than throwing him into south central los angeles. i am excited.

saturday:
back to san diego to take baby brother home.

the week is going to be busy, but it is going to be good. i am really looking forward to spending some quality time with my brother, especially since i don't get to see him that often. and i am also really excited to have a dog at my house. i love dogs, and this will definitely help me decide if i want to take the plunge and get a dog that is.

and here is an inspirational quote [one that has gotten me through quite a few tough days] to leave you with:

courage does not always roar.
sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying,
"i will try again tomorrow."
maryanne radanbacher


[meet lola. one of the minnick family dogs. she is spending the weekend with us]


[me and nathan. redondo beach. june 2011]

rock steady my friends.

july the 4th.

happy 4th of july!
have i ever mentioned that 4th of july is probably my favorite holiday? i think part of the reason is the pride that brings people together. yes, people come together during the holidays for turkey and christmas trees, but they are not united with the pride of their country like they are today. and i really feel that a unifying pride is such a beautiful thing.
kara and i got to spend the day in escondido with my family. it was a good and simple day, a day that reminded me of the summer days of my childhood. i don't know if it is simply because life was simpler when i lived at my parent's house, but life just seems so much more peaceful, calm, simpler, and easier when i am there. i love the comfort that overcomes me when i walk through the door.
we got to simply relax, go to the gym, bbq, and practice handstands at cartwheels in the front yard like when we were kids. it was so good just being able to spend time with my family without worrier about the stress of life.
yessireee, i love this holiday.
[side note, my shirt was a courtesy of michael detoy. thank you, i love it. go america.]