r and h

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Table Makeover

A few months ago I was browsing the DI with my friend and I found this adorable table for $25. I have wanted a new dining room table for a little while now and was so excited to happen upon this one. The table had seen some tough times and was a little beat up. Here are the before shots:

You can see in the pictures how dirty, scratched and beat up it is. After about 4 weeks of working on it (Thank you Alejandra for your excellent sanding skills :) and general DIY know-how), I finally finished the table! I found some cute chairs on craigslist that are in amazing condition and were a steal. For less than $100 I have a brand new table and chairs that we both love! Here is the finished project:

I love the design in the wood that we didn't find until we finished sanding!

My cute hand-made lace runner that I bought for $1 and the silver tray for $0.50, both at a garage sale! I still need to polish and find something to put on the tray.

I am so happy with how it turned out! All my hard work paid off and that feels really good!

My Christmas Present in March

For Christmas last year, Robby gave me tickets to see Wicked when it was here in AZ. I didn't even know it was coming, so I was completely surprised! We went last week and it was AMAZING. It was the second time for me and Robby's first. I was just as enchanted this time as I was the first time. I actually didn't remember much of the story (except the music of course) so it was fun to re-live the magic.

Me and my date. So fun to get Christmas presents in March!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Be Mine.

via: Pinterest

I know it's cheesy, but I really love Valentine's Day. It's wonderful to have a day dedicated to thinking about loved ones. Today I'm grateful for an incredible husband and my loving family.

Robby's gifts. I can't wait for him to come home and see them! He has the evening planned and I'm excited to see what is in store!

Internship Update: 3 down, 1 to go!

For those of you who are interested, here is an internship update. I finished 15 weeks with Chandler Unified School District in December. I had such a great experience there, doing menu planning, recipe standardization, kitchen design, and teaching more nutrition lessons than I can count.

I guess they liked me too, because they offered me a job during the break I am currently in, waiting for my clinical rotation to start. I am working and getting paid (it has been a long time since I got a paycheck) and having so much fun. I love child nutrition!

I took a 2 week break from my job to complete my Long Term Care clinical rotation at the Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix. They have hundreds of independent senior living apartments, a large assisted living facility and a health care center with 3 floors of residents. There is a floor for rehabilitation and recovery (from surgery, a bad fall, etc), another floor with early memory support, and finally a floor with advanced memory support. I had an amazing time working with the residents on the memory support floors. It is humbling to serve those residents and make sure that they are eating so that they can have the best quality of life possible.

I learned so many things about caring for the elderly in this rotation. I enjoyed associating with them, even those residents who can't speak or carry on a conversation. I enjoyed seeing their smiles and them waving at me every day when I would come up to their floor. I loved serving them during meal times and helping them when needed. I was inspired by their positive attitudes, despite the daily struggles associated with Alzheimer's Disease and other memory-loss situations. I loved offering support when residents were troubled or upset about something, usually related to their inability to understand what reality is.

Those 2 weeks flew by and now I am back with Chandler Schools. I'm working in the different schools at lunch time, doing various projects, and now I'm trying to set up a system for recycling food waste in the district, with a company who takes food waste and turns it into fertilizer.

That's what I'll be doing until the end of March when my 11 week in-patient clinical rotation starts at a hospital just down the road. I am so close to being done! One more rotation to complete, the RD exam to pass and I will be Heather Boyle, RD.

Happy Birthday Arizona!

This year is Arizona's 100th Birthday! In honor of that, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir came to Phoenix and did a concert in the arena where the Phoenix Sun's play. We bought tickets in May when we first moved here. The day of the concert finally came! It was on the 12th and we had a blast.

The choir and orchestra were incredible as usual. They performed all different styles of music and even did a little choreography. That isn't something the choir does at General Conference, so it was fun to see!

Robby & his picture face. Someday I'll figure out how to get him to smile for real in pictures...

Since we were going in to Phoenix, we couldn't miss stopping at our favorite: Raising Cane's.

Just me and my boy.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Love and a Wedding

On January 28, 2012, my beautiful sister Megan married Andy Nelson in the Rexburg, Idaho temple.

All I have is the pictures from my camera, but aren't they beautiful?

I couldn't be happier for Megan and Andy! I am so excited for them. It's fun to have a new member of our family and I can't wait to see how their life together unfolds.

Robby and I met my parents and Olivia in Salt Lake City and then we drove up to Rexburg together. It was fun to be all together as a family again! We had so much fun. Lots of game playing, food network watching, hotel pool swimming parties, yummy food, wedding festivities and family togetherness. I loved every minute of it.

Lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe

Ignore the clothespins on my shirt...bridal shower game!

Emily gave us a tour of the beautiful BYU-I campus. The snow was so pretty!

Look who I found in Rexburg! My favorite best friend.

Me and Livs...I love that girl!

The girls... so fun to see Maddie again!

My favorite husband :)

Me, Emily, and Olivia with Aunt Janice, Maddie and Kathryn

The reception was so beautiful!

It was so good to see old friends.

Me and the beautiful bride.

What a wonderful 5 days it was. I was so excited to be present when Megs and Andy were married. I was such a proud big-sister so see Megan so happy. I love knowing that families are forever!