Progress!!!

 Progress... a beautiful and motivating thing! and lucky me Ive seen a lot of it this week which we love. So lets begin this week with a banger of a monday.... as dad would say "good day ever" I love this phrase. And it really was such a good day. I was in desperate need of some quality st. george time to give myself a break from school, night shifts and just life up north in general. So we started off monday with a RUN! That's right folks... Im back. And so far it looks like Im back for good (and not just a few good days, hopefully). I ran/walked 4 miles with mom and dad. Then I hopped on zoom real quick to meet with my clinical instructors and officially end my capstone! I was the first of my whole class to get my capstone done - that feels good. I am so grateful the Lord put me there at the VA. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would and I am hopping to start my nursing career there in a few months. Eek Im so excited. Next stop on this monday morning was climbing gym with dad! and geez... 6 weeks of no climbing and man I am out of shape. So weak and the routes I was doing in my sleep I couldn't even get half way up. haha oh well it was still a blast. 

Slowly but surely looking less and less like newbies... the glasses still kill me though. Costa vida for lunch with the rents, shopping with mom - got a cute new swimsuit oooolalala and then mountain biking with dad! He showed me a new trail - more cowbell - out by Jem trail in hurricane and I think I say this after every new trail, but its my new favorite. So. Much. Fun. I love grinding up the uphills, enjoying the view from the top and then cruising the downhill. 

ahh beautiful zion in the background, a seriously perfect day and my body was exhausted. 4 miles in the morning, climbing and 10 mile bike ride... yeah haven't done a day like that in a long time, but man now that my body feels good Im just soaking up all the days like this. I love being able to wake up in the morning feeling GOOD and knowing I am slowly getting my body back into the shape I was in almost 3 years ago. 

Actually on one of my runs this week (I ran 5 days this week!) I was thinking about how freaking amazing it is that Im running again. It definitely got to the point where I had pretty much given up on ever running again. And as frustrating and painful as it is to get back into shape, Im seriously loving every minute of it. Blisters, knee pain, out of breath and everything else that comes with starting to run again - I love it. And Im so grateful for it all. Ive also been thinking about why. Why did I have to go through this trial? What have I learned through these last 2.5 years of not being able to run? Ive learned a lot and I think I will continue to learn a lot. Some things I have noticed is how much gratitude I have for something that most people take for granted. I am so grateful I can walk with no pain! and sleep with no pain! and now even run with minimal pain! I have more empathy for people who are struggling with similar chronic problems which in my case will help me bond and understand more fully my patients. Another thing I have thought about was Heavenly Father took running away from me so that I could further rely on him. Maybe that seems stupid, but reflecting on this last little bit of my life - I couldn't escape my problems by running. I couldn't let off steam with running, or clear my mind on the trails. I had to turn to Christ and that was such an important lesson to learn. Anyways Im just really happy to be back running if you guys couldn't tell - but I am grateful for this trial and the blessings I have received from it (even though it didnt always seem that way). To end this good day ever we grilled at home with the family and Erin! Tuesday morning I woke up early and headed up to school. School on tuesday, wednesday and thursday! 

haha honestly a disgusting picture, but this is me after getting out of class and running to my car because it had decided to freaking snow... again. What the heck! School is going super well. I took my first NCLEX predictor test on thursday and I actually did pretty well... The test we took is supposedly harder than the nclex so our teacher said about 65% is passing for nclex. Well.... I got a 68% woohoo. apparently the class average was in the 50s so Id say I did pretty decent. A good little confidence booster!

I saw this picture and this is exactly how I feel sometimes as a nursing student. I love it. 

Exploring new trails and playing in the mud. Me and Jess are the only ones home this weekend and it has been so much fun working out, baking, watching movies and doing all the fun things together. This weekend I was also asked to babysit. Im definitely getting to the point where Im not interested anymore, but lets just say this family makes it worth it. So shopping spree here I come. 

And to end - me currently. a chill sunday night, quiet apartment, perfect for blogging and journaling. I love sundays. so dang much. Progress is being made every day. Im happy, healthy, gaining a dope education, growing a strong testimony and just out here trying my best. I wrote this quote down from institute that says "God meets us where we are, as we are." We don't need to change who we are or get to a certain level by ourselves to earn Gods help. HE is how we change. HE is how we become better and He is there the whole time to help us no matter where we are at. So, instead of making our lives difficult and trying to do everything ourselves - lets just turn to christ right now! sheesh I think I just solved all the worlds problems. you're welcome!!