Low Gas Usage

One thing that I really love about being in St. George is that since it is a small town I don't have to drive a ton to get from one place to another. When I was in Provo I drove almost 15 miles to get to the kids' daycare and then about another 5-7 miles to get to school. Here, I drive about 4 miles to the kids daycare and then about a mile to get to work.

So what does this translate to? It means that in Provo, I had to fill up my car with gas about once a week after driving almost 400 miles per week. Here in St. George I have only filled up once so far and that was four weeks ago!!! My gas light just came on today. At this rate I will only have to fill up about once a month! I love it!!

The kids!

Anticoagulation

I love my job! I have been working on an analysis that has to do with blood tests and managing risks of blood clots. So yesterday a coworker and I went and met with the lab manager to find out about the whole process and the costs that are involved. We were then introduced to the lady that specializes in the tests that measure the ratio and time for your blood to coagulate.

We learned a ton from the whole thing and even got our blood tested for free. It's just a simple little finger prick and within a couple minutes we had the results. So, it takes my blood 12.2 seconds to coagulate which is within the normal range. Anyway, after that visit to the lab I was able to put together a bunch of the pieces needed for the financial analysis and I also learned a lot in the process!

Diploma!

I got my diploma in the mail today!!

What a Week!

No new pictures this week. The batteries died in the camera and I've just been too lazy to put new batteries in it.

Other than that, this week has been super stressful. On Monday I got a call from the kids' daycare and Carter had a fever so I had to go pick him up and take him home. So then of course on Tuesday I had to try to find someone to watch him so that I could go to work. He seemed to be getting better but by Wednesday morning his fever was over 102. So I took him to the doctor and it turned out that he has an ear infection (of which he showed no signs). He got some antibiotics and has been doing better but is still really cranky.

So then, of course, on Wednesday night Alexis started coughing a lot and was really congested. She woke up sounding terrible but quickly appeared more normal. Then last night after Carter finally went to sleep around 1:30am Alexis woke up just before 5am with a fever, heavily congested, and a headache. She was up until about 6am and then I got up shortly after to get ready for work. When the kids woke up they were just good enough to take to daycare.
As of tonight, the sickness continues.......

On a positive note, I had a great day at work today. I was able to take a spreadsheet that we use to generate the biggest variances from the budget throughout the hospital and automate the process. I had to run through this thing the other day and it took almost two hours to generate the data we needed. So I fixed it. It is now generated by the click of one button. That's it. A two hour process cut down to clicking one button. I love it. I had a ton of fun improving the process also!

Pics of the kids and walking around near our house today

Pics around town

How many of you have palm trees outside of your local Walmart?

Here is a pic looking west out to the heart of St. George


This is looking southeast over St. George

This is looking northeast over St. George

Right in the middle of this picture you can see a small white steeple of a church. I live just to the left of it. Also, at the bottom right of this picture is an apartment complex. That is where we lived during the summer while I was down here for my internship.

My Office

This first pic was taken on a big hill that I drive over everyday to get to work. The big buildings on the right half of the picture are part of the hospital (which I work for). I work in the building in the center (seen just above the road).

Here is the building where I work

And here is my office

My Kitchen

Here are some pics of my kitchen after I finally finished unpacking everything and getting it cleaned. After all the other places I lived in and especially as I have become the one to do all the cooking I am thrilled to have a large, nice kitchen. It is the exact opposite of the kitchen I had in my last place (tiny, old appliances, nasty colored counters).

Settling In

I can't believe I've been down here almost two weeks already! I just completed my first full week of work which is going great. I love my job! The kids are doing great. Carter really enjoys daycare and Alexis loves going to preschool. I think I will now get a chance to relax a little. Everything has been really busy as I have been trying to finish unpacking and I have had plenty of other things to do.

It has been great being able to spend more time with the kids and not having to worry about an upcoming test or other assignments that will keep me up late at night! The weather has been great. It was really nice getting out of the snow and the extreme cold. Except for a couple days where it was around 30 degrees, it has been warm and sunny. It feels like Spring! I love it!!

A few more pics

Here are the kids in front of our place

Here is a look directly out my front door

This is looking left (looking south) as you pull out of the townhome complex area

This is sort of a southeast look from across the street from the church parking lot (the townhomes start at the far left)

A look at the townhomes from across the street at the church. My place is in the center of the picture.

Here is what a couple thousand miles of driving through all sorts of crazy weather will do to your car.

And this is what it looks like after taking it to Fabulous Freddy's Car Wash