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.]

easter.

the older you get, the different holidays become. i remember growing up, easter was such a huge deal. we [the 4 of us girls] would always get new easter dresses for church that day, the entire family would come over for a delicious easter dinner, and easter baskets were always awesome. easter wasn't like that this year, or last year either. i haven't been to church on easter in 2 years...i have had to work. i realize that this is a reality of adulthood, but it is just kind of funny that a holiday that was such a big deal a few years ago, is now simply another day at work.
last year i got my second tattoo the day before easter. it is on the side of my foot, and it reads "his wounds have paid my ransom..." when i was in the heart of inglewood yesterday, i thought a lot about this phrase. i thought a lot about the sacrifice of Christ. i thought a lot about how i wish i had honored his sacrifice more yesterday. thank you my most almighty savior for saving me. for giving me new life. for giving me the opportunity to live this life free of chains. because of you, i am washed.
so, even though it is a day late, happy easter. may you remember the sacrifice that Christ made for all of us, and may we live our lives accordingly.


[the last easter i spent with my family. 2009]

12 days.

el oh vee ee.

"above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
1 peter 4:8

happy valentine's day everyone.

my little sucker.

i was asked by a coworker the other day about my christmas. ok jeremy, we are more than halfway through january, christmas has come and gone [for a while now], but i will still tell you about my christmas. he asked me if i got everything that i wanted, and i responded with a very enthusiastic YES! and this conversation made me realize that i had yet to talk about my new love for probably my favorite christmas present of all time.
back up a few months, when i moved into my apartment back in august, i was lacking many a household items that are seen as essential. one of these essential items, a vacuum. that's right, i did not own a vacuum. oh well, it wasn't that big of deal. it was only me in my apartment, and let's be honest, i am not even here for a third of my life. however, after a few months of not having a vacuum, it started to get a teansy gross [at least to me...the average person would find my living condition just fine. but i have slight ocd tendencies...enough said]. and [at least i thought], the state of my apartment ground began to get embarrassing, i am just going to add that as well.
so, [my] christmas morning came [it was actually the evening of the 23rd, which is why i said [my] christmas morning], and i got the present that my apartment most desperately needed, and i definitely wanted. a vacuum. that is all my own. [who is the grown up now???]. my very own bagless hoover. it sucks big time [this is when you start laughing]. i love it. a lot. thank you again mom and pops, my apartment is now a much happier, cleaner, and healthier place. and jeremy, i wish you knew about my blog so that you could see pictures of the excitement that i tried to reenact for you.


[i am not excited at all]


[my new baby]

on resolutions.

resolutions. i'll be honest, i love the idea of new years resolutions. a clean slate. a new start. i love them. especially this year. i don't know what it was about twenty ten that i have a negative connotation towards it, but i was not a fan. i guess part of me hated it because i felt that i was trapped in my life, not free to make my own decisions and live the life that i so yearned for. i guess maybe that is why i was looking forward to twenty eleven. even though i know i shouldn't, i have built 2011 up in my mind as the year that i am going to take my life back. in the book that i am reading, cold tangerines, shauna niequist talks about waiting in the first chapter. she talks about how she would be going through her life, waiting for the grand event when her life would start. in her book, she states:

"i have always, essentially, been waiting. waiting to become something else, waiting to be that person i always thought i was on the verge of becoming, waiting for that life i though i would have...and through all that waiting, i am here. my life is passing, day by day, and i am waiting for it to start. i am waiting for that time, that person, that event when my life will finally begin."
when i read that chapter in her book, it was like she had looked into my soul and expressed everything that i had been feeling over the last couple of years. i have been guilty of a person merely w a i t i n g for their life to start. my life is passing me by, and i need to stop sitting on the sidelines waiting for the big moment that will let me be a part of it. this is my life, and i am only going to live it once, and i need to make sure it is a life worth living. yes there are going to be moments that are going to help define my life, but these are not going to be moments when my life begins. today. now. i am in the middle of my life, it has already begun, and i need to embrace it.
with that being said, new years resolution 2011...begin living my life, and stop waiting for it to start [because it began a long time ago].


[my nephew avery rock and i on christmas eve]

snapshot of twenty-ten.

by the grace of God...

rang in the new year in las vegas with devon, steve, amy, and aaron...
welcomed my nephew avery rock rivas into the world.
took and PASSED the cpat.
was promoted to associate supervisor.
trained four new employees at work.
climbed half dome for a second time.
got a second tattoo (his wounds have paid my ransom...).
bought a new car.
made a lot of bad hair decisions [i was born to be blonde].
moved into my very own apartment.
went snowboarding with kara.
began applying to fire departments.
saw my dear friend charissa after a year and a half (still missing you lady).
lost my dear partner to glendale fire department a/o program (go team thompson).
got a new great partner that is teaching me so much (detoooyyy).
moved to c shift (burckle, estrada, detoy...you keep my life interesting).
recertified as an emt.
did a lot of push-ups...but not enough.
watched my small group of girls finish high school and begin their journey as college students.
began attending rock harbor fullerton.
made some new, amazing, friends.
got closer to friends i already had.
turned 23.
saw beth and anna graduate from nursing school!
learned a lot about love...
went on a behind the scenes tour of the wb studios.
saw my roommates skyler and bri graduate from apu.

weddings attended:
david and candace
taylar and tim
chawna and dana
skyler and chris
kim and ricky
beth and eric (i was there in spirit!)

viewed:
the town
my sister's keeper
the time traveler's wife
inception
unstoppable
valentine's day
chorus line [the musical. it was SO good.]
i know i am forgetting a lot on this list...

traveled to:
las vegas (2x)
yosemite (1x)
julian (1x)
carpinteria (1x)
san diego (not enough)
[i need to travel more...]

classes conquered:
ob
peds
community health
nursing theory
nursing research
mental health
restorative



































happy new year everyone!

thoughts on christmas.

christmas time during my childhood was such a special time, a sacred time, and a time that my entire family looked forward to all year. the minnick family has always had traditions, and we have always loved these traditions. it is funny how as time passes, these traditions slowly fade away, and become merely memories.
since i left the comfort of my parent's home, i will be the first to admit that i had become a grinch. i was not a fan of the holidays. they made me, well, for lack of a better word, sad. i am not sure if it was because holidays made me feel lonely, or if it was just because i was so exhausted i didn't have enough energy to want to celebrate anything, i am not sure. but the last few years, the holidays and myself have not been friends.
i wanted things to be different this year. the last couple of years i feel that my life has been in a fog, and i have been trying to break free...i am ready to start living again. i have a picture of my life in my head, and my heart aches for my reality to align with my expectations. i long to care about things again. most days i feel that i am cold, heartless, and have no feelings...and i hate it. i want to feel things again.
the point of all this: christmas, the holidays, whatever you want to call them...they are what you make of them. and i decided this year that i was going to make them great. one BIG step that i took was to buy my own christmas year. not a fake tree, not a charlie brown tree, but my very own, full, lush, beautiful tree.





another thing i decided to do was to spend more time with people this holiday season. recently i have been trying to reach out to people more and make an effort to build stronger relationships with others, and i didn't want this christmas season to be excluded. God created us to be in community with others, and i am really try to live out my life with this mentality...we were not created to go through life alone. so, after finals were over, my entire nursing class came over to my house and we did out secret santa exchange. it was such a precious time and it was so great being able to fellowship with all the amazing people God has placed in my life.





now i had to work on the 25th, but i was completely alright with that. i had been able to spend the previous two days with my family, and it was such a precious time. my family drove up on the 23rd, and we celebrated at my house...with an entire christmas feast (including a turkey, which i cooked...i was proud). i then went to san diego on the 24th, and we took part in all the regular christmas eve festivities [church, dinner and presents at grandma's, etc.]. it was such a great time being with them [i will post pictures soon]. as 2010 wraps up, i ponder what has happened this year, and this one thing i have learned...the holidays are what you make of them, and i plan on remembering this for many holidays to come.