Back to School

First thing I would like to thank my big sis Camilla for taking our family pictures. I put one at the top of our blog and I love them!
Today was my first day back at school. Its always a little exhausting and I'm already looking forward to taking the summer off, lol. I have five classes this semester: English, Spanish, Communication, Dance, and Chemistry. Its going to be a lot to get through but its y last semester at SLCC and my last semester before I have my associates degree. I'm really excited for that. I will be the first one of my brothers and sisters to have a degree! Then, after a relaxing summer off, I plan to go the the U of U to get my bachelors in secondary education. I want to teach math and chemistry in high school. Well I have plenty to keep me busy for the next couple months!

December- Birthday, Christmas, and New Years!

I think if I blogged more than once a month then there would not be so much and it would not be so overwhelming. But here I go again! I'm learning to speak spanish so that I can talk with Juan's family since they speak very little english so I am going to write a little bit on my blogs in spanish so that his family can also read it and see what we are up to.
December 6 was Juan's birthday. Jade spent the weekend with us and we decorated while Juan slept in. The present was supposed to be a surprise but Jade couldn't wait, she told Juan early.
Este fue el regalo de cumpleaños de Juan y la decoracion de Jade y yo.
On December 9 we went to my little sister Hannah's dance recital. Esto es en el concierto de danza de mi hermana. These are my nephews Cayden, Kyler, and Caleb at our family Christmas party. I wish I took more pictures there! Mis sobrinos es nuestra familia fiesta de Navidad.
And finally its Christmas! We opened presents early on the evening of the 22nd when Jade was with us. (and I think once Juan saw that he had a present under the tree he couldn't wait any longer)
Jade patiently waiting to open her presents and talking to grandma on the phone. Jade espera de santa claus.

Jade opening presents at Grandma Berg's house. Thank you mom for reminding us to read to her! We didn't even have any kids books and I don't know why I never even thought about it.
Jade abriendo sus regalos en casa de la abuela.

And finally, opening her presents at home. She loved her spongebob pajamas and now she wears them every time she sleeps over! She had asked for a princess bike for christmas and when she opened it she called it a princess motorcycle. So Juan asked if we should take it back since santa got it wrong. Nope! She started riding it around the house and then the next day we took her outside and she rode it forever!!
Jade abriendo sus regalos en nuestra casa. Ella usa su pijama de bob esponja cada vez que pasa la noche con nosotros. Y ella le gusta mucha su motocicleta de princesa!


Juan and I opening our presents. This was our first christmas together and we enjoyed it very much. We picked out all of our decorations together, decorated the tree as a family, (Jade didn't even want to wait until after thanksgiving) and we spent lots of time together. I'm sad that it is all over but I guess our family has many more years together to look forward to.
Juan y yo apriendo nuestros regalos. Esta fue nuestra primera Navidad juntos y lo disfrutamos mucho.

Juan and Jade ready to go sledding! And Jade playing with a doll of mine. Juan y Jade listo para jugar en la nieve y Jade jugando con mi muñeca.

On New Years Eve we finally made it downtown to see the lights. It was so beautiful I wish we could have spent more time there, but it was too cold...
En la noche del nuevo año nos fuimos al centro a ver las luces de Navidad. Fue muy hermoso, pero hacía mucho frío.



And finally, a kiss for the new year! Un beso para el nuevo año!
On New Years Eve we went out dancing with our roomate. We all had a great time! Juan and I enjoyed sleeping in on New Years day. Juan has been working 7 days a week and I have been going to school 4 days a week and working the other three. We thought that a day off together was a perfect way to start out the new year.

A little of everything

Wow its been too long, I need to remember to write! Well it has been almost a month since my last post and it feels like a lot longer. Last sunday was Juan's birthday so Jade spent the weekend with us so celebrate! We had a good time and I took Juan and Jade to Christmas street to see the lights. She loved it and wanted to go around again and again! Juan had been asking for a bigger television for our bedroom so that is what I got him for his birthday. He loves it and I don't think I will be able to get him away from it now! We ended the weekend with Grandma Berg's Christmas party. We had a good time visiting with family and watching the kids' gingerbread house creations.
For awhile now we have struggled with Jade's mom. She does not like to let Jade spend time with her dad and she looks for every excuse why she shouldn't (because its cold out, etc). I see how it affects Juan and Jade because Jade wants to spend time with her dad and when he doesn't come, even though he is trying, she feels like he doesn't want to come get her. I know that it is never really a good situation when two people divorce with kids but I don't see how people can hurt their kids like this either. We finally got a lawyer so we can get the visitation rights and so we can actually spend some time with Jade. We will be so happy for this battle to be over.
Well it is finally finals week! This semester has felt so long and I am glad for the break. Next semester is my last to earn my associate's degree and I think it will be my hardest yet. I am trying to finish up the pre-requisites for nursing and also my required classes for graduation. Next fall I plan to tranfer to earn my bachelor's in eduation. I'm almost halfway done!!
In november I started a new job. It is at an assisted living center. I am really enjoying this job. They only give me 8 residents to take care of so I have more time to spend with each resident. I also get to eat meals with the residents and I feel like I am more like a friend than just a caregiver.

Halloween and Snowbird

Wow I don't even know where to start. It has been so long since my last blog and we have done so many fun things! I have a ton of pictures to post from Halloween and Snowbird and our weekend with Jade.

Here we are at a friend's daughter Nicci's (Halloween) birthday party.

And at Snowbird with the Berg family. We went up on friday evening for the Halloween party and some trick or treating. Jade loves babies she always wants to hold them and feed them and take care of them. So of course Juan asked her if she wanted a baby brother and she said yes! So I said we can get her a doll for Christmas :) This is her with my nephew (Alicia's) Jake.

Trick-or-treating with the amazing spiderman (Alicia's) Cayden.

First day they met but already best cousins!

Jade stayed with us for the entire weekend of Halloween for the first time! We all had a blast but I was sure exhausted by the end of it. On Halloween we went to pick out pumpkins to carve and we played in a little maze they had there. Jade loved playing in the maze and getting lost again and again and again. We were probably in there for more than an hour!

And then playing at the park

At least I wasn't the only one worn out!

On Halloween we carved pumpkins. Jade had a ball drawing the "face" on hers

The girls getting the pumpkin seeds ready to cook.

Ready to trick-or-treat! Jade loved the witches brew at Grandma's house.

Why do I work?

Sometimes I wonder why Juan and I do the type of work we do. We work long hours, weekends, holidays, 24/7. I come home exhausted with scratch marks, bruises and maybe even some bite marks. Most of the time it seems like the residents hate us as much as we resent the work and the hours. I get paid 9.69 an hour. Yes its work and I am thankful for that. However is my work really only worth that much? On a good day I feel like I am doing good in this world, that I am taking care of these people that would probably be dead without CNA's. But then on a bad day I feel like the world would be just fine without my life. Most of these people would rather be dead. Their family has abandoned them into my arms but they are without anything that previously brought them joy, so what is the point of living? Families rarely visit. Even on birthdays and holidays not every resident will have a visitor. Their family, the ones that they raised and took care of, no longer care. They no longer have their house, their memories, usually they no longer have their mind. Their only worry is if I will lay them down in bed and if the nurse has any cigarettes for them. Why should they go on living? Why should I go on working?
Is it worth it?
Many people I have to do everything for. They can no longer stand so I lift them out of bed and onto the toilet. Many cannot dress themselves so I choose out clothes and dress them. They cannot control their bowels so I clean them up and put a clean brief on them. Their hands cannot grasp so I comb their hair and spray some perfume on them. I then push them to the dining room. They cannot feed themselves so I take the silverware, cut their food and feed them. When they are finished I wipe their face and take them back to their room. They are tired so I lift them back into bed to rest for a bit. On shower days I take them to the shower room, I wash their hair and body, shave their face, put lotion on their skin and redress them. When they get lost and confused I try to comfort them, to be a companion, or a loving hand to hold. Its not always that simple. Some get aggressive when they are confused. They think that you are the enemy, you are trying to hurt them. That is when I get scratched, bit, and bruised. You would be surprised how hard a 90 year old 90 pound lady can grip. I try to just get my job done with the least amount of damage. But it is so frustrating. I am just there to help and to take care of them.


That is my little rant about work for the day. I do have these moments, few and far in between, that make me keep getting up so early and keep me doing my job. A resident will tell me thank you, will give me a hug, or tell me how much they love me. That's what keeps me going.

Last night I surprised Juan with a date to see the Chivas from Guadalajara. They came and played the Real Salt Lake. Juan is from Guadalajara so he was really excited to see the team from his hometown play. He never saw them play in Mexico. It was really really cold but we still had a blast. We thought it was funny that their were more people supporting the Chivas then supporting Real!

Our Little Family!